Rich in Time

I have always said that one of the reasons I survive as a stay at home mom is because my husband is a teacher. This past week and a half has illustrated that perfectly.

When Steve's home, he does everything with the kids that I do- meal time, bath time, diaper changing time and everything in between. There's nothing I do that he doesn't (okay, I don't think he's ever trimmed their nails. But we'll let it slide).

Within the first few days of having him home this winter break, I felt the stress inside of me start to subside. It was so nice to have someone else drive Rosie to school for the first time this school year, change Buddy's diapers (when, oh, when will that boy want to start potty training?), and just, in general, be a constant helping hand.

It makes all the difference.

Our family of four with two dogs living off of a teacher's pay is not a rich family, monetarily-wise, but we are rich in time together. We go on one out of state vacation a year, (Hampton Beach for 3 nights), but we get to be around each other, at home, for a week in December, February, April and approximately 8 weeks in the summer. We drive the same cars we bought 10 years ago, but we are thankful they are still running (knock on wood) and they have handled our family fine so far.

While money is sometimes a stressor, we have been able to do okay. My two part-time jobs have helped a bit. I remember how scary it was to go from two full-time incomes to one when we realized that the cost of daycare would eat up my entire paycheck.

I am very thankful that we have been able to make this lifestyle work for us. Because I get more help from Steve throughout the year with the kids, I get to keep my sanity (mostly) intact, and the time we share together as a family will be something we always look back on fondly.