I was part of the Every day, care™project with Whirlpool® as part of a sponsored post for Socialstars. #EveryDayCare
Being a parent is a crazy ride. There are highs, lows, and all kinds of in-betweens. Even though it can be tough, I treasure every single moment of it. I work from home, and because I run my own business as a one woman show I spend most days locked in my office until the sun goes down. I break for dinner and bedtime, but once the kids are asleep I’m working on my laptop and tidying the house until I drag myself off to bed at 2am. I don’t even know how I wake up in the morning, much less function on a few hours of sleep, but I do it because it makes my family’s life better. Have you seen that video from Whirlpool’s Every day, care™ campaign? You should watch it – it totally makes me cry because as a parent, that’s what we do.
We love the outdoors, and with the days getting shorter and temperatures dropping it is going to start becoming more difficult to get my work done and make it out for family time before the sun goes down. The kids aren’t old enough to really understand why I do what I do – why I’m home but can’t play with them, why I lock the door to my office, why I say no when they ask me to play this or that, and the list goes on. It breaks my heart to turn them away, but the livelihood of our household rests on my shoulders, so I have to do it.
I have major mom guilt about it every day, and even though I absolutely love what I do for a living I still love family time more. I always will, and that’s why the time I do get to take off is so special. It seems like there are always never-ending lists of things that need to be done around the house, and with time being in such short supply we sometimes have to get creative in order to fit in quality time together. Household duties can’t be ignored, but that doesn’t mean that they have to be boring. Instead of taking care of tasks alone while the kids do their own thing, I love including them in my chores. Not only do we have a great time, but I hope that it teaches them the importance of simple acts of care.
Over the next few weeks we are going to be adding quite a bit of outdoor chores to our list, and I am sure the kids will be excited about that. We have a ton of trees in our back yard that blanket it in leaves, so it takes Robert and I forever to rake. This year I’m buying the kids their own rakes and letting them help us out – not only will it (hopefully) speed up the process, but I am positive that we will make some amazing memories while we’re at it too!
Yard work is excellent at helping reduce stress, and there’s nothing I would love more than to spend the next few weekends working outside with my family. It seems like we are constantly tweaking and redoing our yard to revolve around the kids and the different seasons, and they have no clue how much actual work goes into it. While they love to help us work in the garden or mimic Robert with their toy lawn mowers, it’s all play to them. Yard work is tough! It takes a lot to keep it safe for little feet, mowed, pest free, and not overgrown with who knows what kinds of weeds.
Between my work, the house work, and yard work I don’t know how I’ll ever get some to spare to actually enjoy the fruits of my labor, but for my family it’s worth it. The window beside my desk in my office looks out over the back yard, and when I look up from my computer and see the kids giggling together, running barefoot and playing tag with each other it makes it ALL worth it.
Oh yeah, and remember that #EveryDayCare video I was talking about from Whirlpool? Check it out here, and get a tissue ready!
