I have been a stay at home mom for exactly a week now and this is what I have learned…

1- My stress level has dropped drastically. My life is no longer dictated down to the minute by a clock. We aren’t rushing everywhere. We aren’t constantly late to something. I don’t have a steady feeling of guilt that I’m dropping the ball on something important.

2- My patience has risen drastically. I find myself taking the time to get down on the kids’ level and talk to them more often. I can handle their outbursts much better.

3- The kids’ behavior has improved. There are still issues, but there are less moments of lashing out.

4- We are eating healthier. We have a full breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We’ve cut back drastically on eating out.

5- We are spending less money. With less eating out, driving, hurried evenings, our spending has cut back considerably.

6- I get an extra ten hours a day with my children. TEN HOURS A DAY! That’s 50 extra hours I got with my family this week! I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this.

7- The kids love the idea of being homeschooled. Every day this week they have taken at least an hour to work on some kind of educational activity.

8- We climb mountains, y’all. Literal mountains.

9- Our evenings are calm. We sit on the front porch as the sun goes down. Evenings used to be the final push to bedtime.

10- We are finally together. After months and months of limbo, our family is now under one roof. A year ago, this was all just theory. Now it is reality. And the reality is, I’m so incredibly thankful. 🙂