Stay At Home Mom

I am a "stay at home mom". But even after being a SAHM going on four years now, I get a little stir-crazy. Or maybe it's just a little crazy. So I work outside of the home for about 10 hours per week. My main "job" away from home is my business Kindermusik with Heidi Ramirez. I love it because I get to be around children other than my own. Also I love it because I am able to teach. It's awesome because there are absolutely no school district politics, no "No Child Left Behind", standardized tests, report cards, parent teacher conferences, etc. I teach. I have fun. I go home.

My other job is Cristian's favorite job for me because so far it has turned a 100% profit. I teach piano lessons to four students. If you know anybody else that is looking for a piano teacher, please give them my contact information. And yes, I teach theory and technic.

I meet the neatest people in the whole entire planet in my third job. Yes, the neatest people in the entire planet. I teach a group exercise Silver Sneakers class twice a week. Most of my students are 70+ years old. Chemotherapy, radiation treatments, hip replacement, knee replacement, arthritis, double bypass heart surgery, stroke, and diabetes do not keep my students away from the gym. They come between two and five days per week to exercise. Some of my students don't have health issues, but they care for a spouse or loved one with a debilitating illness. For them, the one hour per day of exercise is their only time away from their sick loved one that they care for around the clock day in and day out. Today I met a new enrollee. For anonymity purposes, let's call her J. J. just received doctor's clearance to exercise last week. She completed her last round of chemo/radiation in November and is now cancer-free. She was using the 1 pound hand weights and the yellow resistance bands during today's class. She lost a lot of her muscle strength while receiving chemo and radiation. She shook with every single bicep curl and tricep press we did. Lunges and hamstring curls were challenging. Jogging in place, jumping jacks, and dancing the bachata, salsa and tango-cha cha were not an easy feat. But J. stuck through the entire class. And J. will be returning again tomorrow. Along with my other 15-30 friends that go to the gym Monday through Friday at 11:30 a.m. Their stories are unique. Their stories are special. And I feel blessed to be able to know them and interact with them.

Being a stay at home mom has been extremely challenging for me, being the workaholic that I tend to be. But I find that the whole "stay at home mom" title is a complete misnomer anyway. When do "stay at home moms" stay at home anyway? I still can't figure that one out. Anyway, I am grateful for the daily experiences I have with my children and also for the 10 hours of "me time" that I get by working my 3 "stay-at home mom" side jobs.