From the very first time I pictured myself as a mum, I knew I wanted to be a stay-at-home mum, at least for the first few years of his life. Little did I know, that no other job would compare to the ‘full-time’ job I actually ended up committing to, when I decided to take on this role. So to those that are considering becoming mums, here are five reasons it is more than a full-time job:
1. Your Boss
Don’t even think for a second that you are finally your own boss! My son is my boss, and I have to do exactly what he says (or what he mumbles). I am his full time PA – if he is hungry, I have to feed him. If he poos in his pants, hello mummy! If I walk out of the room he starts screaming for me to come back. If he wants to sleep… i need to fluff his pillows. Yes that’s the way it goes.
2.Working Hours
Instead of working from 8am till 5pm like I was accustomed to do before I had kids, I now work from 7am till 9pm. In the real world I would be reimbursed for all the overtime hours I give, but in this case – not even a pat on the back. I am my son’s entertainer 24/7 which is extremely tiring. He craves anyone’s attention, so imagine being with him all day. One word comes to mind – DRAINING.
3. Breaks
I am lucky that my boss entitles me to two one hour breaks a day – at 9.30am and at 2pm when he has his naps. Here is when I can clear the house, hang up the clothes or cook. No, I do not sleep in my breaks. Maybe once in a while yes, when I really need it. During bed time he also allows me to spend some quality time with his daddy to have dinner and watch some TV. However, he still likes to wake me up in the middle of the night to remind me who’s boss! Lucky me!
4. Deadlines
Working in the marketing world for a while, I was used to deadlines – here I have many daily deadlines too which include:
7am – Wake up call
7.30am – Breakfast time
9.30am – Put Calum to sleep
11am – Prepare his bobo
1pm – Serve lunch
2pm – Put him to sleep
3.30pm – Give Calum a snack
5pm – Prepare his bobo
7pm – Dinner time
7.30pm – Bath time
8.30pm – Bobo time
9pm – Sleepy time
So when one thing is done, soon after I have the next task to see to. Somewhere in between, I take him out to parks, we go for walks, he comes with me shopping. We spend loads of quality time together and he seems to be very happy with the way I perform my daily tasks.
5. Sick Leave
When I worked and got sick it was as easy as A, B, C to call in sick and enjoy a day in with no stress. Now sick leave does not exist anymore and the day just goes by as usual. Gone are the days when being sick at home meant staying in bed all day watching series and being taken care of. Mentioning series… it’s been a while since I watched one of those too, unless Peppa Pig counts as one of them.
So apart from trying to make an interesting read for mummies-to-be who would like to get a feel of what they are getting into, I would like to express how lucky I feel to be a mum and get to witness every new move my son makes..hear every new sound that comes out of his mouth.
Although I compare motherhood to a full-time job (being promoted from a Senior Marketing Executive to a full time PA, Entertainer, Housekeeper and Chef) I truly wouldn’t have it any other way. And apart from all these new roles I am also his Best Friend – which is the most fulfilling one of all!
This post was written by our guest contributor Julia Grech, mum of a gorgeous, energetic little boy.
