How to Take a Day off As A Full-Time Stay-At-Home Parent
When you can’t leave the house and you still have to parent
Kindness and letting go of routine
I’m approaching my fifth year as a full-time stay at home parent. With three under five, it’s that hands-on, in view at all times sort of parenting. I’m good at taking a few minutes here and there, to micro-recharge. “I’m washing my hair” may as well be code for don’t expect to see me in the next hour. I read in fifteen-minute slots. A night my husband is on bedtime is an opportunity to relax and start the evening off with something just for me; usually chocolate.
A whole day though? I have been pregnant or breastfeeding for most of those five years. I do not have days away from my children, not yet. I do have relaxed days. As a stay-at-home parent there are three ways to take a break;
- Take short-cuts
- Get ready ahead of time
- Leave it until another day
I believe that if you take a day off, it should be a break and not simply a pause. You know when you take Friday off, but work in the office until ten at night on Thursday and Monday? That’s not a break; that’s just deferring the work.
