Living Room Golf
By 8:30 am yesterday Maya and I had already read 3 books, we finished her math “homework,” we Methoded the kitchen, and we both prayed for it to magically be August 2nd when summer camp starts.
I also answered the following questions:
- Why does my frog shirt reflect in the window?
- How come Dad gets to have tea and sugar every morning but I don’t?
- Can I watch TV 2 times today?
- Can I have a cookie? (Against my better judgment I will share my answer to this one with you, “Frickin’ A Maya, it is 8:30 in the morning!”) Sorry, it just slipped out.
- Mama, what am I supposed to do now?
At 8:35 am I asked Maya to please give me 5 minutes of peace and quiet so I could close my eyes and count backwards from 1,000.
At 8:36 am Maya was playing golf in the living room.
Do you see the scuff marks? I see the scuff marks.
Now normally I’d tell her to stop before she ruins the wood floor but yesterday I was so desperate for a break that I didn’t care if the floor had craters in it by the time she was done channeling her inner Jack Nicklaus.
At 8:39 am conversation resumed.
“I’m playing golf with my invisible friends, Mama.”
“That sounds like fun Maya. Why are they invisible?”
“Well we don’t want to bother you while you are doing your work so it’s better if they are invisible and quiet.”
Even my heart of stone couldn’t withstand that sad little comment. So at 8:38 am I shut my computer down and tried to appease both Maya and my conscience by taking her to the park for 2 hours, and then by making popsicles with her.
Nothing speaks to her like food.
I've resigned myself to a perpetually messy kitchen for the duration of Maya's summer vacation.
Appease Your Conscience Popsicles
1 peach
1/4 cup of raspberries
1 small banana
1 cup of whole milk
Add everything to a blender, mix on a high-speed, and pour into one of the cheap $4.99 popsicle molds that abound at Target.
Not sure how long I can trick her for...she is getting too smart for her own good.
I almost feel guilty when Maya asks me if she can have a popsicle for dessert and I pretend to think about it. But what I really feel guilty about is that I am already trying to figure out who I can pawn her off on tomorrow so I can actually get through a few work-related emails before I have to troubleshoot the blue screen of death on her Leap Frog again.
Seriously, how on earth do stay-at-home-moms do this every single day?
While I'm not going to win Mother/Wife of the Year Award anytime soon, I haven't killed anyone yet or shot myself in the head. And that, my friends, is how I calculate success these days. 
FANCY THAT FANCY THIS 
I dont know how they do it, my mom worked and sent me to camp to the summer and if camp was over, she dragged me to the office and let shred papers and what not. Maya is adorable (at least on the surface, im not her mother so i dont know her devious side), I’ll babysit anytime! BTW, stay at home moms tend to have rich husbands and nannies, lots of nannies!
We do it with a lot of the same feelings you do. It can be exhausting but the cute little moments they give you here and there make it all worth it. 🙂
haha i have no answers to that question. maya is so adorable though!
Hilarious… I love the play-by-play, especially that at 8:36 you had a golf tourney taking place in your living. I guess it would be bad to let her watch movies?! (You can tell that I clearly do not have children!) Good luck making it through the next week!
I have some popsicle molds that have gone ignored this summer…I think it’s time to remedy that 😀
I was just at target looking for popsicles molds and couldn’t find them. So I gave in and bought all fruit popsicles and let B have 2 last night (yes, I’m a bad parent who can’t say no).
My mom was a stay-at-home mom but I had a sister so we kept each other busy. (And when we weren’t playing together she’d drag us on errands, like fun stops to the bank.) Maybe you need to A. hire a stand-in sister for the rest of the vacation so Maya and Stand In can play quietly together; B. start having movie time so you get at least an hour to do what you need to get done; or C. tell Ali it’s Bring Your Daughter to Work Day. I mean, week. 🙂
We have been making and eating popsicles like crazy too! I also think I’d like living room golf. And I’m sure I drove my mom batty when I was home. I distinctly recall a summer where I painted my brother’s nails and tried to pierce his ears. Fun times. It’s clear Maya and I have much in common.
As I get older I realize why my parents shelled out so much money to ship my sisters and I 6 hours away to summer camp for 5 weeks. Too bad Maya is too young for that. Honestly this post reminds me a bit of my husband when he has a day off. I may or may not have a few putters in my living room currently…
You are soo funny! I can totally relate to you right now – I watch my niece and nephew every day. You think it’s hard with your own kid? Try someone else’s. I ❤ kiddos though, but they're much more controlled in a school setting. I can't wait to stay home when I have kids, but maybe that's my pre-maternal mind talking. 🙂
maya is so adorable! and i just don’t know how any parent, stay at home or not, does it
Wow, and this was just the morning! She’s adorable, though. And I wouldn’t underestimate the power of a popsicle (and that’s a great recipe). I would be appeased by a popsicle.
Too funny! I could never be a stay at home mom. I know this about myself and I am totally awed and amazed by people who are! 🙂
I know it probably drives you crazy, but I think Maya is adorable with all of her questions 🙂 But I’ll admit that that’s quite a lot to deal with before 8:30 in the morning. I think it’s so great that you’re doing such an awesome job at raising her right instead of taking the easy route like a lot of parents and just letting her watch TV, eat junk food, and play video games all day to keep her quiet. It’ll pay off in the end 🙂
Oh I couldn’t do it. I think school was invented for a reason other than educating children– to relieve parents of children. Teachers are grossly under paid
Stay at home moms work so hard. I’m not sure I’m strong enough to do it myself. Maya is too cute golfin away.
I have no idea how they do it. I know I couldn’t.
I always wonder how my mom did it. Granted she didn’t stay at home, but she’s a teacher so is going to work really all that different?
She said to me awhile ago that there seems to be more to do now than when we were little because we would “babysit” my dad and she could get things done. Now she has to keep him busy.
Yeah, anyone who says being a stay at home mom isn’t “work,” obviously has never spent time with a stay at home mom!
You always have such great ideas for fun activities though…Maya is lucky to have a mom who’ll make popsicles with her! 🙂
I think having one child they are a little more glued to mom…which you will really enjoy when she is an adult as you will have a close relationship!
I don’t know any real life stay at home moms. I am too busy managing my life and my family from my cubicle. sigh.
however my MOM was a stay at home mom and I can tell you with certainty…we never saw her.
we got shoed outside to play till dark, we came in only to eat and nap, and when we were home, and inside….I was babysitting my brothers.
true story.
so being home raising one child means you have to do it all and again, I don’t know any stay home moms.
haha
my husbands is home with our son. I’ll ask him but I don’t get to actually talk with him because from 6 to 11 pm I am Mom at home, and I collape in a heap before we can say goodnight.
and this is only one seemingly innocent child, a crazy cat and sometimes a teeager.(believe it or not he’s the easy one)
xoxoxo
you’re an amazing Mom and everyone here knows it!
i guess you should have asked my mom. stay at home mom with THREE KIDS!!!! dude, if you need help, i’ll help you out. keep her entertained whilst you work!!!
miss you lots!
You are so patient!!
Maya seems like such a sweet heart. I know she has a million questions, but she’s adorable 🙂
hahaha I love your response to Maya’s cookie question. When I babysit my little brother (he’s 8) and he does the 20 question thing I typically respond the same way. At least when it’s early and I haven’t had my coffee.
Andy and I are not planning on having children yet but seeing Maya with her invisible golf is making me want a cute kid! Especially to make popsicles with. Andy isn’t nearly as excited about frozen treats as I am.
Maya is cute! Children seem so incredibly exhausting though. I don’t have a fraction of the energy they do and feel tired enough as it is! I love it how on your blog it’s clear you love your child but you are not afraid to say that certain things are irritating or annoying or that you wish you could find some place to send her so you can get some peace! Parenting is not a blissful perfect world some try to make it out to be.
They probably have big back yards.
I really don’t know how stay-at-home moms do it! I’m so glad you’re honest about the realities of motherhood. Kids can be exhausting (even when they’re adorable), but too few women really talk about that part of it. Those popsicles look so good! I didn’t know they were so easy to make.
hopefully i can take some of “the edge” off today! can’t wait to see you ladies!!!
Adorable. I don’t know how stay at home moms do it…my sister has three kids under the age of 7 and I go bonkers just spending an hour with them. Maya looks so sweet with her popsicle!
Admittedly, the “no kids” discussion had been a bit more frequent and a bit less in jest lately. I don’t know how people do it either, but like Cindy said, we just spend all day outside with the other kids in the hood. I think things have changed now and kids are different, but I will give you this: any child innovative enough to come up with a game and some company on the spot has a bright, bright future. Just watch out for the boys (and girls).
Aww, that was such a cute comment about keeping it quiet, I think she suckered you really well into playing with her. I work at home and I know that I will have that same question when I do have kids. By then, I hope to be working out of the home mostly and not at home all the time.
You know Ameena, (and this is my pure honest thought) I always enjoy reading your blog because (besides your great writing) it reminds me that I’m not the only one pulling out my hair and going crazy. So no, it’s not just Maya. Let me give you an example of why I think our daughters would get along just fine:
K will you get the baby powder for mommy please? (usually she does)
No mommy I can’t, I’m a princess now.
So how do stay at home moms do it? With LOTS of patience and acknowledgement that the little smart arse talking back to you is your own little creation and that you love them unconditionally no matter what smart answer they give you or unanswerable question they ask. Lol. Bottom line, you are not alone my friend ;-). Try not to go bonkers and have a lovely day Ameena!
I so hear you. I recall a time when I was a horrid 16 yr old and my mom took off for the day. My dad said she was fed up, tired of us all and it was our fault because we were dreadful creatures. Which we were. Now, I often wonder what took her so long? My girls aren’t even teenagers and on rough days I’m thinking a nice long drive to the border wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
Then they do something adorable and I feel like a rotten old thing.
Great popsicle recipe…I’m going to try this with some of the many blueberries I have at home!
Haha, oh goodness, I sure do have a lot in store for me, don’t I?! 😉
“Now normally I’d tell her to stop before she ruins the wood floor but yesterday I was so desperate for a break that I didn’t care if the floor had craters in it by the time she was done channeling her inner Jack Nicklaus.”
😉 You CRACK me up!! 🙂
Awww, Maya’s so cute!
I could never be a stay at home mom. Children weird me out.
Haha this is absolutely hilarious! I was such a sucker for those things when I was a little kid. I still love popsicles.
I used to LOVE making popsicles like that as a kid!
I don’t see the scuff marks. 😉 Don’t worry. 🙂
Dear Ameena – I did 9 years as a stay at home mom and my remedy was putting little hard hats on mine and dragging them to the construction sites with me! Yup…including the strollers 😉 It is difficult – no doubt and you do the very best you can – like you are.
I feel your pain but in the end these days will whizz by in a flash and you will still have your work…so I am glad you took a break from the computer and made her those adorable popsicles 🙂
She is adorable and she gets it. That’s saying something.
Ciao, Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
Patience. I think all stay-at-home moms deserve the biggest round of applause ever. God, do they need patience. I think you’re doing a fair job entertaining Maya though! I don’t even know how my mom dealt with me and my bro…actually, I was always a reader so I hid in the room and read stacks and stacks of books each day, ever since I was 2, apparently.
Here is a better question… how do mom’s do it period? I wonder from time to time if I can be a mom… I am sure I can…. someday 😉
I feel your pain and live it too (even the non-stop question). I work from home so it’s important for me to have the time to do so. In order to keep 4 year-old Sophie occupied, I found some jr. high girls to come to the house and “entertain” her weekday mornings, relegating one to each day. I don’t have to pay them as much as full-on babysitters (they get $10/morning) because they’re so young and I’m there to help when needed. It’s not perfect since I still get interrupted, but I AM able to do enough work that our clients aren’t complaining.
I don’t know how stay at home moms do it. I’m not a mother, and I’m terrified to become one. I am so impatient. I’m easily disturbed by loud noises (like a baby crying) and strong smells (like a baby’s diaper). I am afraid that I would be a terrible mother.
My mom was a makeup artist and when she and my dad got divorced (I was 2, my sister was 4) she had to work full time…so my sister and I have always been in day care and had nannies and started full days of kindergarten at 4 years old. From what I’ve heard, we were pretty easy kids though..I was really quiet and I spent most of my time in my bedroom reading or playing with toys by myself. Even then, I hated loud noises so I didn’t make much noise. I just have to hope that if/when I have kids, they aren’t wild and don’t have temper tantrums. Then I might seriously go crazy. I know that kids in general are a lot to handle, and being a mom is a hard full time job, but Maya seems like such a sweet kid. Her little comment about making her friends be invisible and quiet is so cute and nice. I think you must be a great mother. And don’t worry, August 2nd is not that far off!
stone fruits are the best!!!!
=D i love summer for that very reason.
today i ate WAYY more vegetables. =D to account for yesterday. =D
anyways, lemme know when you’re at the park next week! or whenever.
It’s a good thing Maya is so cute. Otherwise I have a feeling you might have strangled her by now.
I’m not quite sure how my mom used to tolerate us all summer long…I think the key was that her sister also had kids our age so they used to get us all together and then say okay kids, have fun! And go off and talk in the kitchen while we figured out what to do with ourselves. Basically Maya needs to make a friend and then you need to have her play with the friend constantly. It’s a win/win situation until they decide that coloring the walls sounds like a fun idea.
Love the popsicles!
my mom used to FREAK when i did this as a kid. so many spankings from it “thanks mom!” hahaha ❤
and popsicles too!!
SCORE! 🙂
i use popsicle molds for coconut pops!!!!!!! hahah love em and feel like such a kid. we use to have this inside golf thing, you putted in it and if you made it, the machine spint it back to you to go again, wow…throwback haha
Your daughter is adorable. I’m sure being a stay at home mom is a HUGE challenge. Very sweet of you to take the time to go to the park and make Popsicles. I’m sure it made her day 😉
Haha, she’s so cute! But I am glad I don’t have one 🙂
Haha, I love the name of those popsicles! Maya is just the cutest thing, by the way 😀
Maya is truly adorable. That last picture of her is so pretty.
My kid demands the same attention,honestly I feel the same about not giving enough.
I think stay at home moms have a lot of patience. I cannot handle kids for more than 1 hour. I need to work on that before I have some of my own! 🙂
I took care of my nephews for a few days last month and although I love them, but day two, I wanted to slit my wrists! My hat goes off to stay at home moms!
Oh Ameena. How I have missed reading your awesome stories about Maya and…motherhood. AHAHHAA. This might sound really selfish, but if Maya wasn’t so…curious and full of questions, who would I have to tell me such wonderful anecdotes? 🙂 Yes, I admit, I am entertained at your expense.
But I think it’s worth it. What I love is that you always end up pointing out that you learned something…and whether that be a self-realization or a practical lesson learned or maybe just a stay-at-home-mom cry for help, I love it all the same. I love that your conscience made you make popsicles with Maya and take her to the park. On the topic of popsicles, my Mom used to make red-bean popsicles with us (it sounds weird maybe but I guess it’s just Asian origin; regardless it is DELICIOUS)–and now I know what their real purpose was. To appease her conscience. Ahahaha.
hmm really? about the dress?
costco parking lot- i think i’m gonna die and i am gonna get hit by a car (EVEN WHEN I”M IN THE CAR!) people just stop and go as they please. it’s CRAZYYYYYYYYYY.
i’m too lazy to look it up. we are SUCH A PAIR. =D
Maya is adorable! When I plan on having a daughter, I want her to be just like Maya 🙂
You have a lot of patience and energy, Ameena, even though it may not feel like it sometimes. My goodness, I can’t think of a harder job than raising children – and working too! I don’t think I could do what you do, yet. I need a few more years to grow up, I think 🙂 Bribing Maya with popsicles seems like a perfectly reasonable way to deal with boundless energy. I remember my older sister (the reluctant babysitter) doing the same thing with orange juice popsicles when my little sister and I were growing up.
Also, I don’t see any scuffs, I swear!
We used to always have homemade popsicles at my friend’s moms house – they were so much better than storebought! I have so much respect and admiration for moms – I hope I can do a good job too, one day.
You’ve got me craving for some popcicle now. I. WANT. A. POPCICLE!!!!!! lol. –> that was me reminiscing of my childhood days when it would be hot out.