occupation: Stay at Home Mom

living situation: I live in a modest single family home in a wonderful family neighborhood. I live with my husband Roger (39), daughters Laura (9), Sarah (7), and son Drew (5).

how do you structure your time and space? After child number one, it was easy for me to return part-time to my job as a registered nurse. Along came child number two, and I reduced my hours to one day a week. With my husband’s family in Tennessee, my family one and a half hours away, two  toddlers, and child number three (hello!), work became an impossibility for me. Let’s face it: my heart was not in my work anymore. My babies were all I could think about, and I am pretty sure my patients would have preferred being the center of my focus. So, I became a stay at home mom. Time flies, and now the girls are in elementary school, and my son is in pre-kindergarten for three hours a day. I am very structured with my time, and I have a list for everything as well as a HUGE calendar. (I can’t help it. It’s genetic). My days are usually the same: Here comes my list. (Like I said, it’s genetic):

• COFFEE
• kids to school
• three hours for tidying the house and/or running to the grocery or Target
• Bible study once a week (my soul food)
• pay bills
• laundry
• train for a half marathon

(Good thing I have five days a week to get all of this done!)

• Pick up son at noon and girls at 2:45
• homework
• scooters/bikes
• cook dinner
• tennis lessons or softball games two nights a week (The joy of my neighborhood is we live on a cul-de-sac, and we back up to a city park with tennis courts, softball fields, and a playground. Can you say convenient?)
• Dinner, bath, bed.

I may sound dull but it works for us. It’s a good balance.

using the metaphor of seasons to describe the phases of women’s lives,

-what are the particular challenges and highlights of your current season? Finances are a challenge in this season. We live on one salary, that of a police officer. Money is tight but we make it work. We are blessed to have lived in our home for eleven years, and we bought it wayyyyy cheap. I use a coupon for everything, and I mean everything. Now that I see how much we save, I am addicted to coupons. Meals are simple, eating out is minimal, and so we are able to spend that extra money on good, healthy, food. I am blessed to be a nurse and have the security of knowing I can find work tomorrow, if necessary. The highlight of this season is being at home and watching my kids go through their own seasons of life. It has gone by in the blink of an eye. 

-What season(s) preceded this one? We went from an easy breezy life with just my man and me to diapers, poop, sore boobs, ten extra pounds, little sleep, runny noses, and being worried all of the time. (That’s what happens when you have 3 kids in 4 years). That season went by way too fast, and I would not have traded a moment of it. 

-What season(s) might your future hold? Next year, all of my babies will be in the same school for one year. It looks like returning to work is a possibility. Baby steps. My oldest daughter will be visiting junior high schools to find the right fit. My next season will be the pre-teen years. (What???????). This will probably include trying to find the balance between being a disciplinarian to my kids but still maintaining the type of relationship where they feel like they could tell me anything. In today’s day and age, it’s so hard!!!

favorite family activities: We do lots of running around during the school year, so we live for summer! We enjoy trips to the beach, vacations, and movies. We always get passes to water parks every summer (another perk of living in Florida).

favorite solo activities: I play co-ed softball two nights a week. (Oh yeah, I still got it!). One of those nights my husband plays as well. I go to Bible study one morning a week (maybe it’s not so solo, but it’s my break away from the house), and I love reading when time permits.  One week during the summer my parents keep the kids, and my husband and I go to the Keys. Good times.

sources of inspiration: My sweet friend R.D., who lost her ten year old daughter to cancer three years ago.  She puts her feet on the floor each day with joy in her heart and the hope of eternity in heaven. She makes me laugh, cry, and put it ALL into perspective. No matter what happens, it could be worse, and I have nothing to complain about. I am blessed beyond belief!

best MakeShift moment : Maybe not a moment but… I never buy napkins or paper towels. I stock up when we occasionally go to Chick fil-a (with my coupons, of course). I use newspaper wrappers to pick up dog poop. I also keep the vegetable bags from the grocery store in my car in case someone has to vomit. It’s happened.

[if you know someone who would make a good mothers of invention feature for the MakeShift revolution, please check out the nomination process detailed in the sidebar pages to your right.]