I lasted about 2 months as a stay-at-home mom. When they say it’s hard, they’re not kidding. And this is coming from an immigrant who escaped communism before the wall fell, struggled alongside her family to make it in America, spent years in grueling training to be a doctor. I don’t really know how to relax. Even on vacation, I need to at least be reading a trashy novel, preferably a historic or nonfiction one while thinking how I really need to learn about the culture of Puerto Vallarta or whatever other seaside resort I’m visiting. Clearly, I am not a lazy person. And yet, taking care of this little dude named Ben is killing me. And I’m about to have another littler dude! I couldn’t describe what exactly is so rough. As Tim puts it, all I have to do is “get up in the morning” and then I have “nothing to do all day.” I’ve already threatened to visit him at work with a noose as part of my day of non-productivity.
That is why I’m hiring back my nanny (part time) and maybe a housekeeper/cook and going to look to go back to work (part time). I actually had a dream about Bellevue in which I was helping orient some newbies. Life is all about balance. Stay at home mom or Stay at hospital mom is just not the answer. I don’t know how other people do it, especially without any help (Greta Herbert, you are my hero).
