Let me start by saying that I am so grateful to be able to stay home during this season of life. I know a lot of people are not able to be stay-at-home parents even though they would choose it, and I am very lucky to be able to even though I don’t feel like I chose it.

But also, sometimes it’s a lot. And sometimes it’s tedious. And sometimes, when I’m feeling overwhelmed and I want to escape to the bathroom for a minute of silence, but my sweet child follows me in there to continue talking to me, I miss teaching.

Some days I wonder if I’ll ever be a teacher again. And some days I look up job postings in all the districts near me and wonder if anyone would hire me at 8 months pregnant. (Kidding…kind of.)

But despite the 24-hour work days and Groundhog’s Day feeling that is being home every day with a toddler during a pandemic, I’ve discovered lots of little benefits to being a stay-at-home mom. And on days I wake up feeling like, “Wait…didn’t I just do all of this yesterday?” I like to reflect on the unexpected bonuses.

(Obviously there are lots of big positives, like getting to spend all this time with LG, seeing all her firsts, not having the stress of teaching on top of parenting, etc., but we’re going to focus on the smaller stuff today.)

1. I have been able to keep an exercise routine.
   Now, as previously mentioned, I am 8 months pregnant, so I’m not doing anything crazy here, but I have been exercising first thing in the morning relatively consistently for a year now. I can say that about no other time in my life. I wake up at the same time I did while teaching, but since I don’t have to leave for work at 6:45, I actually have time to focus on my health in the morning. A miracle.

2. I have read 28.5 books in the last year.
My goal was 30 by my birthday, and I think I’ll actually get there! I can’t remember the last time I read more than like 5 books in a year. Who has the time?? Me, turns out!

3. I can schedule appointments easily.
I am at the point in pregnancy now where I see the doctor every 2 weeks. I remember this being stressful the first time around because all of my appointments had to be after 3:30 so I wouldn’t have to take off the days I was saving for maternity leave (which is a whole other issue we’ll talk about another time). But you know who else doesn’t want to take off work for their appointments? Everyone. Trying to schedule appointments weeks in advance so that I could actually get the time I wanted was a nightmare, and now things are much more breezy. You want me there at 10:30? Sure. Done. Easy peasy.

4. I have started to enjoy cooking dinner (kind of).
I have always hated cooking. I am not good at it, and it was always just one more chore I had to do at the end of the day when I was already exhausted. But now, cooking dinner has become part of my precious alone time throughout the day. LG goes with Dad, I put on a podcast, and I get half an hour or so to myself while accomplishing a task (bonus!).

5. I did not have to deal with pandemic teaching.
So grateful for that. I cannot imagine. Also, I am definitely someone who likes to be the hero, so hearing all the people tell me how wonderful teachers are for working so hard to change everything about their jobs (and then immediately forgetting all that hard work the second they were asked to help their kids at home) would not have been good for me.

6. I’m figuring out what I like to do again.
I gave up a huge part of my identity when I left teaching. It was a tough transition for a while, because for so long I had been “just a teacher.” I spent my days working, and my free time making stuff for my students and/or classroom. Teaching was my hobby. But now that I’ve been away for a while, I’m starting to remember what things I actually like to do in my free time. I know that’s all going to be tossed aside again for a while when Baby Sis comes, but at least I know it’s out there.

7. I can take LG to try new things when they aren’t super crowded.
The other day we went to a water park on a Tuesday at 8AM. We’ve been to the zoo on a weekday several times. Sometimes we go to Sonic to get flavored waters after nap. We’ve had actual playdates with other kids at a park when it wasn’t weekend-crowded. None of this would have been an option while teaching.

A lot of this job is hard (so hard), and a lot of this job is wonderful (so wonderful). Some days, I’m at the end of my rope, but I look over at LG and see her smiling, and she looks at me and says, “I’m so happy today!” and I feel like I could do this forever.

Today, I am thankful for the little things.