The hardest part of being a stay at home mom for me is well the silence. Now you might be wondering what I am talking about… Yes, I do have two children 2 and under and yes they both love to talk so when I speak of silence I don’t really mean the lack of them making noise. No, I don’t mean that at all. See what I mean about silence is the silence within myself- the silence in my mind, the lack of vocabulary used on a day to day. Ultimately I mean the silence between me and other adults.
On average, I speak to 1 adult a day and most of my conversations with that adult, who happens to be my husband, is through text. So most days I load the girls up and we go get fast food because at least then I can see and talk to another adult throughout my day.
So what if all I they say to me is “Hi! Welcome to Chick-fil-a, What can I get you?” and I reply the exact same way every day, “Yes, I would like a number 1 with American cheese and a large sweet tea light ice and a kids 4 count chicken nuggets with fruit and a lemonade no ice” They graciously repeat my order back to me which is great because I get a sense of being heard. Then they ask me a vital question “Can I get you any condiments” in which with no hesitation I let them know I would like 4 Polynesian sauce and 2 ketchup. They then say something quite rude but I accept graciously when they tell me it will cost me $10.65 for our conversation…
Some days I want to tell them don’t you know I am only coming here to talk to an adult and hear something besides the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Theme Song and for someone to call me “ma’am” verses “momma”? (Sometimes they are even so sweet to ask for my name!) But I know they wont understand because I am sure they are thinking of the homework they need to do later or the kids they dropped off at daycare or what the latest trending hashtag is on twitter. So then we drive home and the whole way home I listen to a sweet 2 year old ask me for a “Fry” and “lemonade”…
But you see that little drive adds up each day and my well meaning husbands asks me if I could just eat lunch at home… See he doesn’t understand that I don’t go there for the food… I go there to have an encounter with another adult. I am sure you are catching on by now that I my personality is not one with few words.
The other night my husband walked in the door after working late that and I had been talking to my mother in the kitchen and about 15 minutes after his arrival my mom looked at him and said “Elaine hasn’t had much adult conversation today!” I realized I had not stopped talking since they both walked in the door.
So I am sure you can tell by now that the hardest part about being a stay at home mom for me is not the dirty diapers, or the dishes (because I don’t have any because we go to Chick-fil-a), or any of the other things that good stay at home moms do… For me the hardest part about being a stay at home mom is the silence. So today in hopes to give my mouth an opportunity to speak I wrote this blog to you, another adult. Thanks for sharing with me in this conversation well dialogue! Have a great day!
P.S. All you stay at home mommas- just know I see you at Chick-fil-a! No judgment here!
Oh just so you know today when I went to Chick-fil-a, I got all the way up to the window and realized that I had left my wallet at home and the sweet girl gave me my meal for free… See sometimes its worth it be a usual! lol Even though I think she just gave it to me because that is how great Chick-fil-a is, I am still super great and will go there again tomorrow! haha!
Much love!