Leah's Diary Entries Diary Navigation: Choose A Diary Entry -------------------- Latest Entry: 9/24/02 -------------------- 9/20/02 8/30/02 8/26/02 8/15/02 7/4/02 6/4/02 6/3/02 4/25/02 4/4/02 3/28/02 1/1/01 10/26/00 10/19/00 10/14/00 6/15/00 5/24/00 4/26/00 4/20/00 4/12/00 4/6/00 3/23/00 3/16/00 3/8/00 3/1/00 2/25/00 2/16/00 2/9/00 -------------------- Leah's Introduction

Introduction

A day off. I bet a lot of people out there might not think stay-at-home moms deserve a day off. After all, we're home every day. But I can tell you that I work a lot harder as a mom than I ever worked in the office or in academia. Keeping up with a fairly brand new being can be exhausting physically, and you have to be in tune mentally all the time too, knowing where he is, what he's up to, what it takes to make him happy. It isn't safe to zone out or concentrate fully on another task -- ever.

But Thursdays are my day off from being a mom. Kipp, age 21 months, goes to his friends house for the day. What I like more than anything about my day off is the ability to both concentrate and to run errands without having to worry about someone else's well-being and without having to tote about an extra 30 pounds.

Because, for me, good cooking requires planning, concentration, attention, and time, my family gets to eat well on Thursdays. It's the day for inviting grandparents and aunts and uncles over for dinner too.

Today the temp is cooler than it has been, which is good, since the oven has to be on for four hours this afternoon. We're having country style ribs tonight, mashed potatoes, vegetables -- slow-cooked, relatively healthy fare, but the thing that feels healthiest to me is that I don't have to rush about, ripping open sodium-laced packages, and convince myself I'm taking good care of my family.

Time to go peel the potatoes.