By Cheryl Bac
E-mail Cheryl Bac
About this blog: I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, home cook, marathon runner, and PhD. I recently moved to the Silicon Valley after completing my PhD in Social Psychology and becoming a mother one month apart. Before that, I ran seven marathons incl...
(More)About this blog: I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, home cook, marathon runner, and PhD. I recently moved to the Silicon Valley after completing my PhD in Social Psychology and becoming a mother one month apart. Before that, I ran seven marathons including Chicago and Boston. Exercise is an integral part of my life. I hope to one day go back to long distance running and tackle the New York City Marathon. Right now I run after my one year old son. Although I am a stay-at-home mom, we are rarely "at home." My mom also stayed at home with my brother and me. She warned me that, although rewarding, it can be isolating. So, with her help, I learned the importance of getting out into the community and meeting other mothers. On the rare occasion when I am at home and have a hand or two free, I squeeze in time to scrapbook. As a new mom, many challenges are thrown my way. I hope my opinions, triumphs, and struggles help experienced parents reminisce, new parents cope, and parents-to-be get an honest glimpse of what the first years of motherhood can entail.
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As a parent, sometimes there just don't seem to be enough hours in the day. Food needs to be cooked, dishes need to be cleaned, clothes need to be washed. You want to spend quality time with your spouse and your kids, but it's easy for daily chores to take over.
I recently saw a
video on my Facebook feed that reminded me of just how full our lives are as parents. And how our kids can see what our priorities are by how we spend our time. In the commercial a mother was overwhelmed with chores and her son sweetly tried to finish some of them for her so she would have enough time to see his play.
I hope our son never feels overlooked and ignored like the boy in the video, but I've tried to teach him the reality that parents only have a certain amount of time each day. The more he helps me, the more time I'll have to help him.
This can be a challenging concept to teach children. Especially since mom's "extra time" doesn't always appear immediately after children help out. One day our son may help me out a lot, but his sister may be teething or I may be sick. And, of course, the opposite can happen too. Our son may be less than helpful one day, but we've already committed to taking him to a class, game or show that afternoon.
I hope that over time our son learns that I prioritize my day so I can spend as much quality time as possible with him and his sister. And that everyone in the family is better when everyone is doing their best to help out.
