Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The Life of a Homemaker

Let me be clear... I am not a stay at home girlfriend. In my relationship with Boyfriend, I'm the current breadwinner of the family since I'm a cougar and older than Boyfriend and graduated first. He's still going to school but is only a few weeks away from a great promotion at his current job which would give him 40+ hours a week (and like, an extra $10 bucks an hour. Yeah.). But until then, I work 40+ hours a week and Boyfriend takes care of a lot of the home-making in our apartment.

Don't get me wrong... Boyfriend goes to school and works part time, but with me being gone most of the day, a lot of the housework ends up on his shoulders. Boyfriend takes care of Shadow (feeding, walking, brushing, etc.) and also vaccuums, does dishes, straightens up, cleans the shower and toilets, and makes sure all bills are paid and that all repairs are made. I, on the other hand, have promised to do laundry and mop floor (which he hates to do).

I used to be super great at staying busy while Boyfriend was at work in the evenings. I'd do dishes and work out and walk Shadow and make dinner and clean up and usually do one big cleaning thing a day (like laundry or mop the floors or dust).

Then... Boyfriend and I got a new mattress.

Let me rephrase.

A wonderful, thick, pillowtop mattress that replaced my 10 year old mattress that was literally like sleeping on springs.

It's heaven. When I picture heaven, I picture my bed. Only with more french fries.

Unfortunately, this new mattress delivery coincided with my realization that watching 16 and Pregnant, Teen Mom, and True Life on the laptop is just as much fun as watching it on TV. And lately, I've been pretty much worthless after Boyfriend goes to work. I sit in bed for hours, watching MTV on my computer, playing Spider Solitaire.

This bedrest has introduced me to one of my favorite new True Life episodes: True Life, I'm a Newlywed. One couple, Brett and Laura Beth (my favorites, so cute), led a very southern lifestyle... Brett became an engineer and Laura Beth, at 22, became a homemaker. She stayed busy with making dinner, keeping house, cleaning, and making sure Brett's life was easier.

I could never be like LB.

Case in point: The past two weeks of my life.

I complain about my job often, usually when I wake up (before the sun rises) and have to leave my new awesome bed and my awesome Boyfriend to head off to work. I usually say, "I don't want to work! I want to stay home". Boyfriend is always so supportive and tells me he loves me and that he's sorry I'm so sad.

Once I'm away from my love (my bed... okay and Boyfriend, too), I'm completely fine. I like my job and I like my coworkers. I like being an active part of society. I like earning my own money. Boyfriend would be fine with me staying home once he's working, but as I've seen lately, I can't be trusted with all this time. I need a schedule to get me up and get me moving or I become a TV-watching, Solitaire-obsessed zombie.

Someday, I'd love to stay home (probably at the end of my pregancy and when raising our children), but I know that being a stay at home mom is nothing like just staying home. You have a job as a stay at home mom. You have a rough schedule, sometimes, early mornings and late nights and a lot of responsibilities. But for now, working is definitely the best thing for me.

(Also, I feel that it is only fair that I tell you that I wrote this blog post in order to avoid cleaning. I need help.)

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