Let’s get this out of the way: I love my life. I love my family and my job as a stay at home mom. I love being the primary care giver to my son and I *like* when our days are busy.

Now then. Ahem.

JesusChristAlmightyIneedabreak. I hurt my back early Saturday afternoon and have not gotten more than two hours to myself at a clip since then. When Jude’s awake, so am I. I’m on my feet playing, cooking, cleaning. There’s really no way around this. Josh works. (Duh!) When he’s not at work, he is FANTASTIC about taking care of Jude and letting me rest. But, when he doesn’t get home until 5pm, well… dinner is already made. All that’s left to do is let Jude eat, get the kitchen cleaned up, and get Jude cleaned up and ready for bed. There are only about two hours of “awake” time for Jude once Josh gets home at night, and while I truly, truly appreciate Josh taking the reigns (and he does! without complaint!) for those two hours, it’s just not enough. When I’m feeling good and can walk without shuffling my feet and when I can sit down and stand up without sharp pains surging through my lower half, it’s fine. But now? Five days after I got hurt? When I still can’t sit comfortably or sneeze without crying out in pain? No. Right now it’s not enough.

So what do you do when you’re the stay at home parent and you’re down for the count? What do you do when you don’t have the luxury of taking even one day off to concentrate on healing, resting, and feeling better? Well, this experience has taught me–you have to suck it up. Lunches and dinners still need to be made. Balls need to be kicked and dirt needs to be dug in. Diapers need to be washed. Floors need to be swept. My hard-working husband can only do so much after a full day’s work out of the home. I have to uphold my end of the bargain as well.

And here I could go on about how it’s not fair–How mothers and fathers who stay at home need just as much of a break as parents who work outside the home–but really, what good will it do me? The better option would be for me to close the laptop, lie down next to my sleeping boy, and rest for the remainder of his nap.

*Click*