So God Made a Mother is Here! 🎉

“It’s going to be so much easier to keep our house clean once I’m a stay-at-home mom”. 

Chalk that one up on the list of horribly wrong misconceptions I had about stay-at-home moms before actually becoming one myself, right in between “I’ll get more sleep” and “I’ll start reading for fun again”. (Ha!)

I didn’t get it. I didn’t realize that while, yes, I’d be home most days to clean house, my kids would also be home every day to MAKE more messes (So. Many. Messes.) and I’d find myself spinning in a hamster wheel that never, ever slows down.

In reality, my days look a little more like this: 

This morning, I set out to get on top of the laundry that’s a little out of control (read: it’s taking over our entire house). I threw a load of dish towels into the washing machine and headed to the kitchen to get the kids breakfast. 

After pouring cereal and flipping on the cartoons, I started loading the dishwasher. I had a little bit of space left in the top rack, so I went on a search for any extra cups that I could throw in. 

I made it to the boys’ room, when EWW. I smelled that smell. WHAT ON EARTH WAS THAT SMELL?!

A quick inventory of the room identified a diaper that had somehow made its way under the bed. Cue a double-bag job, a spray of Febreeze, and a trip to the trash can. Whiiiiich needed taken out. But why stop at emptying the kitchen trash can when I could empty every trash can in the house? 

A glance at the clock told me that the kids had watched double their fair share of TV for the morning, so I walked through the living room and flipped the TV off. 

“Go play!” I suggested. 

“Play with us!” they countered. 

So we sat on the rug and put together a new puzzle. 

Being that close to the rug made every single piece of dog hair so very evident, so as soon as we slipped the last puzzle piece into place I hopped up to grab the vacuum. 

By this time, little bellies were hungry. 

Chicken nuggets. Carrots. Applesauce. 
Leftover (stale?) Halloween candy just for good measure. 

After lunch we washed hands, read books, and played that cute little naptime game where the kids get out of bed 57 times until they decide they’re actually worn out enough to fall asleep. 

And so it continued . . . the rest of my afternoon looked a little something like this:

Sit down to pay bills—baby starts crying. 
Start unloading dishwasher—get distracted by crumbled Play-Doh on the floor. 
Grab the rag to wipe down the counters—kids want to read a book. 

And now it’s 4:51, my husband will be home from work soon, I haven’t started making dinner, the house is in worse shape than it was when I woke up this morning, and I STILL HAVEN’T THROWN THE DISH TOWELS IN THE DRYER. 

So, I’ll give them a sniff, rerun the load tomorrow morning, and start all over.

This. THIS is what being a stay-at-home mom really looks like, on any given Thursday. 

You will likely not have a clean house. 
There will be no extra sleep. 
Your book will remain a coaster on your bedside table for the next eighteen years. 

But you will survive. And you will love it (most days).

Originally appeared on Etched in Home with Casey Huff

You may also like: 

What Do Stay At Home Moms Do All Day?

Want more stories of love, family, and faith from the heart of every home, delivered straight to you? Sign up here!

So God Made a Mother book by Leslie Means

If you liked this, you'll love our new book, SO GOD MADE A MOTHER available now!

Order Now

Casey Huff

Casey is Creative Director for Her View From Home. She's mom to three amazing kiddos and wife to a great guy. It's her mission as a writer to shed light on the beauty and chaos of life through the lenses of motherhood, marriage, and mental health. To read more, go hang out with Casey at: Facebook: Casey Huff Instagram: @casey.e.huff

Dear New Mom, God Is Only a Whisper Away

In: Baby, Faith, Motherhood
New mother holding baby on couch, eyes closed

While we were waiting to adopt, I would wake up in the middle of the night panicky. My mind would wander to the thought of suddenly having a baby. With groggy eyes and a cobwebbed mind, I would ask myself, “Could I get up right now to go soothe a crying baby?” And then the insecurities would flood me as I thought through the difficulty of dragging myself out of bed to give milk to a fussy newborn. I didn’t know if I could.  With each application sent to agencies and social workers, the possibility of adopting a baby became more...

Keep Reading

To the Mom with Two under Two: You’ll Make It

In: Baby, Motherhood, Toddler
Toddler girl showing bubble wand to baby, color photo

Sweet friend, I know you feel like your world has exploded into chaos. Two under the age of two feels overwhelming. It’s like raising two babies, but one child gets into one thing after another. It feels endless. The diapers, the crying, the messes. But sweet mama, it gets better . . . so much better. Those sweet babies will grow up feeling like their sibling was always there. Your first will never remember life before a forever friend entered her life. They will grow up together and share sweet memories. RELATED: May They Be Siblings Who Stay Friends When...

Keep Reading

Can You Hear the Silent Cry of Bereaved Postpartum Mothers?

In: Baby, Grief, Loss
Crib in nursery

Trigger warning: post discusses death and loss The cool air shocked my sweltering face as I walked into the doors of Old Navy. My husband kept his hand on my back to remind me he was still with me amidst the summer hustle that was buzzing in the store. We were there for a shirt. A single shirt.  An embarrassing want that I was calling a need. I thought I would actually laugh at the situation once I got out of the house for the first time in a week.  Seven days before, I was lying on my back in...

Keep Reading

I Nearly Died after a Routine C-Section

In: Baby, Motherhood
Woman in operating room after C-section delivery

When my husband Dylan and I found out we were having a baby after having a miscarriage weeks earlier, we were ecstatic. Planning, enjoying our oldest son, and taking in the pregnancy, we didn’t understand my mounting fears and anxiety as the due date crept closer. I began having a reoccurring dream of dying on the table. This anxiety only worsened as we passed the point of the possibility of vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) delivery, and I began preparing for another cesarean section. The morning of, we arrived happy and nervous. I began to come to terms with this...

Keep Reading

You’re the One I Want to Raise My Babies with

In: Baby, Marriage
Mom and dad holding young daughter kiss

We didn’t realize the far-reaching effects of having our first child. We dreamed, planned, and imagined what our future life would be like with our daughter. What we couldn’t begin to understand is how much time would be taken away from us as a team. Our love of hiking still exists. Our love of travel still exists. Our love of quietly watching a movie still exists. But our priorities have shifted to spending as much time with our baby as possible. RELATED: Having a Baby Changes Everything in Marriage Parenting can be all-consuming. It takes every spare breath, every bit...

Keep Reading

Dear IVF Mama, You Are Not Alone

In: Baby, Motherhood
woman giving herself IVF injection

I had to be pregnant this time. It was our fourth and final IUI. I was late. I was hopeful. I would have moved mountains to avoid the emotional and financial turmoil of the IVF process. Sitting at dinner with friends, I started to cramp. I felt the color drain from my face as anxiety flooded my brain. I stood from my seat. In a mere moment, my hope shattered into a thousand tiny pieces right there on that bathroom floor. I tried to compose myself so I could return to my friends. But the tears kept coming—an involuntary avalanche...

Keep Reading

A Vasectomy Fail Wrecked Me in the Most Beautiful Way

In: Baby, Motherhood
Mom, dad, four boys, color photo

Has life ever thrown you a major curveball? The kind you wonder how you’re going to work your way through, yet you survive and come out the other side changed and transformed? It was 2019—we had a house full of three growing little boys (ages 5, 7, and 9). We were out of the sleepless nights, terrible twos, and diapers. I was finally able to enjoy watching my kids play sports (without chasing a toddler), and I was about to turn 40. I was ready for growth in my career, ready for more traveling with our kids, and staring at...

Keep Reading

When These NICU Days Are Over

In: Baby, Motherhood
Mom and nurse with baby in NICU, color photo

I’ve been where you are. I’ve been in a hospital bed, striving to keep my baby in for one more day as if concentrating hard enough would stop the contractions. I’ve been there while NICU doctors told me about survival rates as I stared at the hospital ceiling, looking at the beaming fluorescent lights, trying to fight the tears until they left the room. Thinking to myself, please God, keep him in one more day. And when one more day didn’t come, I sat in the dimly lit room filled with machines, incubators, and cords, so many cords. I’ve watched...

Keep Reading

Postpartum Rage Is Real

In: Baby, Motherhood
Husband, wife, and four children, color photo

Growing up, I always fantasized about my life with my children. I never thought I would be the mom who yells or curses at her children. I envisioned I would be the gentle parent who always reacted calmly and never shamed my kids for accidents. Then while in the midst of being postpartum with my fourth baby, it hit me. “Did I really just curse at my child for spilling their milk?” This was not me, this was not my parenting style. I felt so ashamed and worthless. Those feelings were enough to help me realize I needed help. Overcoming...

Keep Reading

There’s No Hard like NICU Hard

In: Baby, Motherhood
Three women and two toddlers, color photo

To the mamas and daddies navigating the NICU: There’s no hard like NICU hard. Seeing your spanking-new beloved placed in a glass bassinet and rolled away from your aching breasts and empty arms—it’s the absolute hardest. No one who hasn’t been there can possibly understand. But many of us out here get it. We understand your emotions—the tangled and tied-up ones that unraveled in that bassinet’s wake. Fear, anger, frustration, helplessness, sorrow. You feel like a failure. You feel completely undone. Defeated.  But you’re not even one of those things. You are parents, and parents are practically superhuman. You have...

Keep Reading