This Christmas I was lucky enough to get SIX WHOLE DAYS off of work! SIX. That's like nearly impossible with my job, but Christmas fell on the right day and my boss was kind enough to let me have 2 additional days off to stay home with Mason.
You see, Mason's preschool is closed for TWO WEEKS during Christmas. TWO. That is a lot of time for either Seth or I to take off work ourselves or to try to find someone to watch Mason. Thankfully both of our jobs were flexible and we had family who could watch him part of the time to make it easier on us. Papa took Monday and Tuesday of the first week, Seth was off Wednesday, Thursday was Christmas, and my work had a "floating holiday" for Friday. Monday and Tuesday of the second week I was off, Wednesday was Seth, Thursday was New Year's Day, and Friday was Seth's regular Friday off. So out of 10 days, we each only had to take 2 vacation days. Score!
For me, this was like heaven. I was off for 6 days with my little man and I was trying to figure out what fun we would have. Because, let me tell you, if I didn't plan something, I knew we would go stir crazy. And, also let me tell you, being a stay at home mom is HARD. I don't know how you all do it day in and day out so I give you total props! I mean, I assume if I was home all the time I would come up with some sort of routine and it would be more 'normal' for me, but still. TOTAL props!
My first day off (Thursday) was Christmas so that day was pretty much planned for us. Presents with just the 3 of us in the morning followed by family presents followed by nap time followed by dinner time.
Friday Seth was off to work and it was me and the little man : day 1. We started off the day with a fancy breakfast of milk and an Eggo waffle for Mason and some cereal for me. After breakfast, I built his new Little People Wheelies ramp, we went to the grocery store to get a couple things, to the park, ate lunch, I took down the Christmas tree and decorations, he napped, I built his new kitchen and we watched the new Planes movie that he got in his stocking (Planes : Fire and Rescue).
Then Daddy came home and we went to the mall to meet our in-town and out-of-town family for dinner.
Saturday Mason had a make up swim lesson, we went to the mall to exchange some things and get him some new shoes, he napped, and we went over to our friends' house for dinner and a play date.
Sunday was our typical Sunday : swim lessons, Starbucks, lunch, laundry, grocery shopping, and all that jazz.
I planned a play date with my friend Lauren and her son Logan for Monday morning. And let. me. tell. you. It was GLORIOUS. (Seriously, if I was a SAHM all the time, I would plan a playdate for every morning. We were with them for maybe 3-ish hours and Mason was so tired that he took the most wonderful nap when we got home.) We met around 8am, walked about a mile down the street to Starbucks and a bakery where we got a coffee and a danish for breakfast. We chatted for a while, ate breakfast, and tried to coax the boys into sitting still in a chair for more than 2.7 seconds. Once we knew we had run out of time, we strapped the boys back into their strollers, headed down the street, and to the park. The boys ran and ran and played and played for at least an hour and I only had about 3 heart attacks making sure that Mason didn't fall off the play structure.
We headed back to her house, let the boys play for about a half hour more, and then Mason and I headed home. It was almost nap time but he seemed to be doing ok so I ran to the grocery store to pick up a couple things and then we headed home for lunch and nap time. We watched Planes : Fire and Rescue for the tenth time since he got it and waited for Daddy to come home.
Tuesday morning was our errand running time. We ate breakfast and then headed out the door. Our first stop was Trader Joe's and the bakery next door to pick up some challah bread. It was my lucky day and the challah was on sale and it was Mason's lucky day because the nice, nice lady gave him a cookie for free (at 8am no less!). He chowed down on his cookie while I wandered through Trader Joe's. We headed home for a few and then were out again to run to Costco before it started raining. We ate our way through Costco and then were back home for lunch (like we needed it after all the free samples!) and nap time. While Mason napped, I caught up on the bill paying, some blog reading, and some planner note taking... and checked on Mason a million times on the monitor to make sure he didn't fall out of the bed.
When he woke up after his nap, I deemed it jammie day and we sat on the couch and cuddled and watched Planes : Fire and Rescue (yes, again) until Daddy got home from work.
Tuesday morning was our errand running time. We ate breakfast and then headed out the door. Our first stop was Trader Joe's and the bakery next door to pick up some challah bread. It was my lucky day and the challah was on sale and it was Mason's lucky day because the nice, nice lady gave him a cookie for free (at 8am no less!). He chowed down on his cookie while I wandered through Trader Joe's. We headed home for a few and then were out again to run to Costco before it started raining. We ate our way through Costco and then were back home for lunch (like we needed it after all the free samples!) and nap time. While Mason napped, I caught up on the bill paying, some blog reading, and some planner note taking... and checked on Mason a million times on the monitor to make sure he didn't fall out of the bed.
And thus ended my stay-at-home-mom-dom.
it. was. PERFECT.
I wish I could have a day like this at least once a month! While I do enjoy my job and going to work on a daily basis, I do thoroughly, thoroughly enjoy my days off with Mason. Just me and my boy. I know it's good for me. It's good for him. And it makes us both SO happy!
I do not take these days for granted!
Until next time...
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Linking up with Jess.
And Tawnya.
