My first day as a housewife

I finished work on Friday and am now officially on maternity leave. I should feel good. I should feel free. I should feel relieved of pressure.

Instead I feel a bit slack. I feel like I am not contributing. I feel bad that I just sent my husband to work. I feel like I need to clean the entire house to prove that I actually did something today.

I need your help to clear this craziness and reassure me that it is ok. That I am nearly 36 weeks pregnant and need to rest. That being at home doesn't equal being lazy.

I think today is about taking a step back and letting all of these emotions pass over me. I think tomorrow maybe I might be able to reconcile this one.

But for now I have set myself the enormous task of getting through the even more enormous pile of washing and doing all of this on a rainy day.
That's enough for today I think.....

3 comments:

Hel said...

hmmm.... if you figure out how to reconcile those feelings, let me know. I still have trouble feeling self worth because I "just" stay at home.

I know that what I am doing is a really important job, but feeling it is a completely different kettle of fish.

The Old Dairy said...

Look at it this way...these are the last couple of weeks that you will ever sleep properly again.....do nothing rest sleep enjoy it as this will soon pass....when feelings of guilt come, make a cuppa and go out to the garden untill these feelings have passed.....
Enjoy your maternity leave guilt free.

Anna Bartlett said...

I felt exactly like that. I think I entered every competition that crossed my path, in the hope that I'd win something and that would be contributing.

But here I am, 5 pregnancies and 4 kids down the track, the house is a full time job (even though there are so many other things I want to do) and I know that without me doing this home stuff our family would fall apart pretty quickly. So I do it.

But sometimes I don't. And when I'm 36 weeks pregnant I definitely don't. And that's ok. You don't need to be accountable for every minute of the day, but it may take a while for you to get used to it. You are now 'self employed' and your family is your product. Just do what you do to keep the 'harmony' (my favourite family word - I'm totally planning to paint it on the kitchen wall) and enjoy your life. You're doing a very important thing that no one else can do, and a healthy baby with a happy mum is the bees knees.

Good luck and relax. This really is living!

(OK, the sermon's finished now! Sorry!)

Monday, March 1, 2010

My first day as a housewife

I finished work on Friday and am now officially on maternity leave. I should feel good. I should feel free. I should feel relieved of pressure.

Instead I feel a bit slack. I feel like I am not contributing. I feel bad that I just sent my husband to work. I feel like I need to clean the entire house to prove that I actually did something today.

I need your help to clear this craziness and reassure me that it is ok. That I am nearly 36 weeks pregnant and need to rest. That being at home doesn't equal being lazy.

I think today is about taking a step back and letting all of these emotions pass over me. I think tomorrow maybe I might be able to reconcile this one.

But for now I have set myself the enormous task of getting through the even more enormous pile of washing and doing all of this on a rainy day.
That's enough for today I think.....

3 comments:

Hel said...

hmmm.... if you figure out how to reconcile those feelings, let me know. I still have trouble feeling self worth because I "just" stay at home.

I know that what I am doing is a really important job, but feeling it is a completely different kettle of fish.

The Old Dairy said...

Look at it this way...these are the last couple of weeks that you will ever sleep properly again.....do nothing rest sleep enjoy it as this will soon pass....when feelings of guilt come, make a cuppa and go out to the garden untill these feelings have passed.....
Enjoy your maternity leave guilt free.

Anna Bartlett said...

I felt exactly like that. I think I entered every competition that crossed my path, in the hope that I'd win something and that would be contributing.

But here I am, 5 pregnancies and 4 kids down the track, the house is a full time job (even though there are so many other things I want to do) and I know that without me doing this home stuff our family would fall apart pretty quickly. So I do it.

But sometimes I don't. And when I'm 36 weeks pregnant I definitely don't. And that's ok. You don't need to be accountable for every minute of the day, but it may take a while for you to get used to it. You are now 'self employed' and your family is your product. Just do what you do to keep the 'harmony' (my favourite family word - I'm totally planning to paint it on the kitchen wall) and enjoy your life. You're doing a very important thing that no one else can do, and a healthy baby with a happy mum is the bees knees.

Good luck and relax. This really is living!

(OK, the sermon's finished now! Sorry!)