As life circumstances would have it, however, I have become... a stay-at-home mom. I won't lie to you. It's work. There are times when I stare at my screaming son who will not be reasoned with, and will not nap, and seriously consider returning to work. Emotionally, it would be easier. Psychologically, it would be healthier. HOWEVER, I do love him. And the fact that I have the opportunity and chance to be more involved in his upbringing, his childhood, the little moments and learning experiences he has each hour, is too good to pass up. I'm a firm believer that there's nothing more important - no job comes close to compare - than raising your children. For some, this means working full time. For others, part-time - the group I intend to end up in, eventually, for my own sanity! And others, it's being a stay-at-home mom. There are no wrong answers, when you look at individuals' lives.
But staying at home is a transition. It's a terrible one! I've gone from the ultimate of 9-5 schedules, with dropping the baby off, then picking him up, making dinner, bath time, then bed, every night, to waking up when the baby does, eating breakfast, and...
I'm looking for stuff to do. Parks are awesome, but I'm also almost 8 months pregnant and it's over ninety degrees out there. (Shade is cool. Can they make more covered parks?) We have aquarium passes, but you can only go so much before you get sick of it. We could go shopping every single day, but our wallets are not bottomless. We have toys, but this kid is used to playing with a room full of infants every single day.
And that's the hard part. Julian needs friends. I'm an introvert. I can't tell you how happy I'd be to sit on my butt day after day writing, reading, or watching documentaries on the Bible or archaeological digs and discoveries. (These are my hobbies.) But Julian is a baby. He is 100%, certifiably, an extrovert. I didn't think you could tell this early, but with this kid, you can tell. He lives and breathes other people and interacting with them. And he needs friends. And I don't know how else to find them. So here goes:
FRIENDS WANTED:
Looking for candidates for potential friends for a stay-at-home mom and her 14-month old son.
Son is wonderfully cute, charming, and funny. He is precocious in language development, and is just starting to walk. He enjoys cars, other children, and is only mildly afraid of dogs. He can be convinced that they are safe, given time. He takes roughly three naps a day, making his schedule a living nightmare, though naps can be condensed down to two easily, as, when with others, he remains pleasantly exhausted. He is big, and unaware of his girth. He has been known to accidentally step on smaller, more breakable children. It is not intentional.
Mother is an introvert. She is additionally an INFJ, yellow/red personality, resulting in a pleasantly opinionated, friendly demeanor. (Due to being an introvert, the opinionated/bossy will only come out if she's annoyed about something.) She is a religious "bigot," and expresses culturally unpopular, conservative opinions on a regular basis - though she is anti guns and wars, and pro socialized medicine and Muslims. She is not a Republican. Or a Democrat. And she likes it. Her hobbies including reading, writing, and documentaries focused on archaeology, as well as mutually respecting debates on current events, mental health, politics, culture, religion, and Russians. She pretends to enjoy cooking, and once she starts, she really does. But frankly, her creativity and general motivation are lacking. She also does not work out. At all. She calls life her workout.
Looking for friends who have a child, preferably close to the son's age. Friends can have more than one child, though frankly, the mother is terrified of being outnumbered. But just because this is her fear, does not mean that she can't get over it. Looking for friends who understand introverts, and won't be offended if the mother doesn't want to hang out all day long. A couple hours is awesome. Looking for friends who won't try and sell them anything. You can sell stuff. Just not to them. The mother will ask if she's interested. She is anti multi-level-marketing. Looking for friends who have a dark sense of humor, or at least won't be afraid of one. Looking for friends who have religious convictions, but don't shirk at the sight of Mountain Dew, or R-rated movies like Gladiator or Schindler's List. Looking for friends who DO shirk at the sight of anything starring Hugh Grant or Jack Nicholson, or basically most modern comedy/romantic comedy films. They are disgusting.
If you are interested, please contact me. I would love to set up a time we could have a picnic, or an awkward splash pad encounter, or something inside and creative that you've thought up, because I'm plain out of ideas on the air conditioned spectrum. We could always just chill for a bit. My place or yours. We'll figure something out.
