My New Reality

I've been a stay at home mom for two months now!  Seriously - ALREADY!  How did that happen?  I realized I never really did a post on how things have been going in my new reality and that it was about time I did.
Well, in a nutshell:  It's been DIFFERENT.  And it's been VERY, VERY busy!
When the girls were first born, I stayed home with them for nearly 2 years.  I even started this blog during that time and my life then was so much different than it is this time around.  Back then, Langdon was quite different.  There wasn't a doctor or a grocery store or even a good coffee shop.  And with two babies/toddlers and no car during the week, I was fairly restricted on my interactions with other people.  So we stayed at home...all the time.
Now - Langdon is almost a stand alone town.  We have a grocery and a decent pharmacy.  There is a doctors office (about to be 2 doctor offices), a pretty coffee house, a Tim Hortons...and most of all - two girls who ride two wheelers and have friends from school.  I am meeting moms and getting to know them...and trying to convince them that I am not some glamourous trophy wife who could afford to abandon her job to stay home at a time when they are all facing having to go back to work.  It's take two months, but I think they are starting to understand that when I bring the girls to school - it is the start of my work day.
Work is going well.  I enjoy being able to set my own hours and the company I am working for is fantastic.  They understand my time constraints and that my kiddos come first.  They know I will get my hours in even if it means an hour a day.  I couldn't ask for a better situation there.  That's not to say it isn't hectic.  There are only so many ways to talk about on hold messaging...but I'd like to think I'm doing pretty well :)  
And running my own business has been fun as well.  Though when it comes time to produce product for my shop - my days get VERY long.  There is only so much I can do around the girls when they are in a mood to "help".  I am looking forward to Fall when they are in school full time and I will have all that much more time to create products and market my shop.
Life as a stay at home mom in a small town is interesting right now.  We are establishing routines that don't involve the television being on for most of the day.  The girls are loving the warmer weather and spend a lot of time outside.  Doodle recently tore a ligament in her right knee falling off her bike so she's had to slow down a fair bit while it heals, but it doesn't stop us from strapping on her knee brace and going for walks and bike rides.  The kids are great pace bikes as I am working my way back to a regular running habit.  One of the other moms on my block has been my accountability partner since she wants to learn to run...so we go a few mornings a week.  There's more walking than running right now, but that will change.  Right now, we're building the habit.
Walking the girls to school has given me an automatic 4k of walking everyday so I am definitely more active than I have been in a while and the walking has been great rehab for my tibia.  Much of the tenderness is gone now.  It is rare that I feel a tweak at the break site.  It's nice to be pain free.
So time has been flying by in my new reality.  I am really liking it.  Much of the anxiety I was having in my old job has melted away (probably since I am not in the worst desk in the office anymore) and I am able to concentrate on my kids.  I had my first reward for this decision at the end of the first month when Doodle's report card came back saying "(Doodle) has shown considerable restraint over the past month in controlling her emotions".  That is a huge win that goes to show what a couple extra hours of sleep can do for a kid and the impact that more parent time can inspire.   I think the girls are thriving and that this really was the best decision for our family.  I know it makes it much harder for hubby to leave us in the mornings to go to work, but with the shortened commute - even he gets more time in with us in the evenings.  It's like a win-win all around.
I'm so happy we could make this new reality.