On Labor Day.

A day late, of course….

Well, this is the first official Labor Day that I don’t feel overly deserving of a three day weekend and I wanted to share my thoughts as to why. Labor Day is a holiday to honor working people….and, well, by American standards I don’t work. It’s been almost a year since my husband and I made the choice for me to stay at home with our daughter and at the time it was an easy-peasy decision. We were moving and I would have to quit my beloved job anyway, and I surely wasn’t going to seek a new position at 6+ months pregnant. After all, I have always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, right? Pre-baby+no work was absolutely glorious, of course…hours of shopping, long lunches with the ladies, daily workouts….this.was.the.LIFE! Then baby LK came. I was overwhelmed with love for this baby girl. It’s hard to even put into words how much you love your child, because in all honesty, there are no words that accurately convey the gut-wrenching, perfectly pure love that a mother feels for her child. This over-the-top love is also coupled with sheer delirium and exhaustion. If this was every one’s definition of “not working” …you people are nuts and I don’t know what kind of jobs you have. Because mine is now a 24 hour a day position that involves lack of sleep, hours of feeding, the patience of a saint and one where eating breakfast and taking a shower are considered “luxuries.” I also don’t have the luxury of my family here, coupled with the fact that my husband often works 12-14 hour days…it can make for a pretty long day for me and baby LK. But in all honesty, I could not imagine trading it at this point. Yes, there are days where I sing “Old MacDonald” so many times that I feel severely dehydrated. There are long long days when she has an awful tummy ache or is teething so bad she just looks at me and cries. Even after almost seven months, there are still many sleepless nights and days when I think that I made a huge huge mistake by giving up a career that I actually loved. But then there are (most) days when we giggle all day, we have “big girl” lunches out at our favorite restaurants, we take strolls or swims, or we literally spend the entire day snuggled up just being BFF’s…and its during those moments that I know that I’m doing exactly what I need to be doing…and that’s being the best mommy I can be to my sweet girl.

All of that being said, I have gained the most sincere respect for working mama’s. Seriously, ladies, how do you do it?! How on earth do you find time to get yourself ready, get a baby ready, get bottles ready, and get yourself to work on time? Is there some magic trick that I’m missing because, honestly, there are some days when I forget to feed the poor dog. Not only that, but I admire you because some of you are working because you don’t have another good option and your family depends on your income. I’m sure sometimes you feel trapped and long to be holding your sweet baby instead of sitting at a desk doing something you don’t love. I also admire those of you who are working by choice because you absolutely love what you do. It excites you to work and, in the end, makes you a better mommy when you get home. Sometimes I long to find something that I’m so passionate about.

In the end, working out of the home or not, this mommy gig is the most rewarding, beautiful, difficult, fun and challenging job that one could ever take on….so I hope that you were celebrated yesterday for all of the hard work that you do! Kudos!

P.S.- I didn’t feel like this post was complete without a sincere “Thank You” to my amazing husband who sacrifices so much and takes on the sole financial burden for our family to allow me to stay at home. I know some days he’s got to think that it’s all Lululemon and lattes and then there are some days when he definitely knows it NOT (multiple frantic calls on the verge of a meltdown might give him a subtle hint), either way he keeps me calm and centered and is the rock of our family. We love you.