Domesticity

Today is my 27th birthday and I've been thinking a lot about the person I've become. It's taken more than nine months, but I've settled a bit into this whole mom thing. I didn't realize how different it was going to be. 


I've done the housewife thing before. I was between jobs the summer before I got pregnant, and I loved it. I enjoy keeping the house clean, cooking delicious and healthy food, and having a million hobbies (gardening, knitting, art and music, and now cake decorating). I would spend all day working on random things around the house. I never ran out of things to do. So when it came to being a stay-at-home mom I thought I would be a natural, and love it. 


Turns out when you have a newborn, that's all you do. I found it frustrating to be home all the time, but not be able to actually do anything productive. But all that's changing now. Lily is content to scoot around on the floor while I do something else nearby. It has been incredibly freeing. Most of the time the apartment is in decent condition, and I can really cook again. Also, now we have a garden plot (there will be a whole post dedicated to this soon) so I can go work in the garden while Lily naps in the stroller or plays on a blanket nearby. 


Over the past months I've been toying with the idea of going back to work. I keep checking Craigslist for part-time positions, and I've even applied a few places (without any luck, somehow I'm over- and under-qualified for most things). I really felt like I needed to be doing something worthwhile. To help feel like my own person again, I started volunteering at the Museum of Science and Industry. I go a couple times a month for about 4 hours at a time on Saturdays and it's great. Joe and Lily have a daddy-daughter date, and I get to be out of the house doing something fun and baby-free for a while. 


And now I'm content. I love having the time to exercise and garden and nap when I want to. I enjoy the responsibilities of "keeping house" and parenting. I appreciate having some time outside of the home to do my own thing. I'm thankful for two sets of grandparents nearby so Joe and I can get out once in a while. And I absolutely adore the breakfasts, evenings and weekends when we're all together as our own little family. Here's to 27 years of change, learning, mistakes, moving, and growing.