There has to be a better name for my job because the title stay at home mom could not be any further from the truth. My kids are 8, 5, and 3, and if given the chance to stay home or to climb Mountain Kilmanjaro bare foot while carrying all three of my children without being able to drink a single drop of water, guess what I am going to choose?  Yeah, Kilmanjaro, here I come!My youngest kids go to preschool part time, which means that for half of the week they are at “home” with me, and I use that word “home” very, very loosely.  If I can, I actually avoid being in the house with them at all. I plan outings, events, play dates, park excursions, outdoor play, etc. I will pretty much do anything, and I do mean anything, to avoid actually being in the house with my kids.  I love both my house and my kids, which is why this arrangement works so well.

I have found that staying in the house when you are a stay at home mom  leads to monotonous days filled with daytime television, assembly lines of laundry folding, sweeping at the drop of a crumb, and researching three ingredient casseroles online.  That is no way for me or my kids to live, so I am at the other extreme.  Our days are filled to the brim with activities so that we are rarely at home, and when we do go home, it is usually a quick pit stop to grab lunch and have my 3-year old take a quick nap.  During this time, I am as productive as I can possibly be, making dinner, cleaning a good majority of the house, returning a few phone calls, and doing a couple of loads of laundry in about an hour and a half until nap time is over and my oldest daughter comes home from school and then it is time for all of our after school activities.I have seen the schedules of some of my other stay at home mommy friends and it seems like the more you are out of the home the better it is for everyone.

That is why I propose changing our title to stay out of the house moms.  If you’re a stay at home mom, are you in the same boat as me, planning activities to keep you and your kids out of the house, or do you prefer to stay home with them?