Volunteering at School

Being a stay at home mom means to me that my focus must be on my family. I stayed home with my daughter until she was almost five. Everyday, every night, not one moment apart. Well, aside from that time I had to get my gallbladder removed and I got cellulitus from an old infected IV needle which turned into a blood clot which added a week to my so called in and out surgery. Aside from that week, I spent everyday with her. literally. No babysitters, no day care, no sleepovers with the grandparents just little ol me and occasionally her dad.

Now that she is in school most of the day I miss her. In Kindergarten I volunteered in her school library and once a week in her classroom. She loved seeing me at her school. This year she is a first grader. We also added a little sister to our family over the summer. It is now impossible for me to volunteer at her school but I still feel compelled to lend a hand. I wanted to help from home since I am not able to be there in person. The perfect opportunity: "We need 48 apples donated to sell at our Hay maze candy apple booth to benefit a charity." Great, just what I needed. I can certainly purchase 48 apples and drop them off....

Not so fast.
I later found out from a friend that they must already be candied or carmeled. hmm.. I have never in my life done this.

I pride myself in my ability to follow through. But this was bigger than I could handle at the moment. As musch as I hated doing this I had to call our coordinator and explaine that I had no idea they needed to be candied and that it was a lot more work than I thought especially with a baby. She laughed and took pity on me and the 48 candied apples quickly became 12. Relief but I still felt like a jackass.

Following William-Sanomas recipe, I unwrapped, melted, and dipped. Most of the candy slipped off and down around the bottom of the apple and moments later air bbbles started to appear on its once perfectly glossy and smooth surface. What went wrong? Who knows. I don't have the time, energy or the ability to redo them. They didn't come out so great looking but they should taste good.

I tried.

a Good cookie

Being a stay at home wife/mother is not easy, well sometimes it is. My husband is a pilot so his schedule is somewhat unpredictable. Can I depend on him? no. Will he be home when he says he will? no. Will he still be home at 9am when he told me last nite he had to be there by 8am? Yes. Will he go in to fly and be cancelled and take the day to do what he wants? Yes.

As I go through my morning rush I wonder what it would be like if I could call the school and tell them what time my daughter will start her day. Or be able to take the day just for my self. But, then I remember all those times I did nothing but sit on my friends couch until the last possible second leaving me in a rush to get home before the bus rolls up. Not to mention those momosa friday's, day long beach outings, lunch dates and so called "mental health day's" that are spent at Williams-Sanoma. I gotta say I have it good. I am so glad that we don't need a dual income. I am able to stay home and attempt to be a Good Cookie. My husband doesn't expect dinner on the table but loves to come home to a pot of something.

I am trying to perfect the art of being a stay at home wife. I cook (fresh, never frozen), I clean, and I raise children (2 human, 3 cainine). But as my favorite quote from a very underated movie State and Main states, "Everyone needs a hobby."---->and that hobby can't be your spouse. As it turns out many of my hobbies bennefit my home life and I am slowly learning to let my spouse be.

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