Being a Stay at Home Mommy

I never used to fantasize about being a stay at home mommy. I DID, however, fantasize about being a "kept woman". Yup, I really, really wanted to know what it would be like to be a "mistress". Now, I didn't REALLY want to be one - but the IDEA of being one was incredibly enticing. I remember once I was walking through Downtown Crossing when this older gentleman wearing a very nice suit took my hand and tried to get me to "get a cup of coffee" with him. Uh, no thank you. I mentioned it to my boss at the time and she said I had just missed out on my opportunity to be a "kept woman" - she was KIDDING, but that's what got me thinking. How lovely would it be to have NO responsibilities, to do nothing all day but go to spas, the gym, shopping, and to have my OWN APARTMENT where I didn't have to pay for anything? Pretty darn lovely, right? Now, I'm well aware that the fantasy in my head is not a reality and that that sort of relationship isn't really a "relationship" as much as it is say, a BUSINESS relationship - if you get my meaning! But boy was it a tantalizing thought. Especially when I had to do things I didn't want to do, like pay the rent and utilities and cable and perhaps there wasn't REALLY money left over to go do something fun. Anyway, now that I'm a stay at home mommy, I'm having a hard time adjusting to the fact that the day is pretty much mine. Yes, it's REALLY run by Nathan, or as my father likes to call him, "The Little Tyrant" - but since Nathan is only 11 months, I pretty much decide things like what we're doing, what he'll eat, and when naptime is. If I want to stay in the house and lie on the floor with Nathan while he crawls all over me - that's what we do. If I want to get out of the house, than I plan a playdate or other outing. I don't really have a schedule yet, and I'm trying to get one, because I am someone who works best with a schedule. A schedule AND a deadline. Maybe it's because I'm a HUGE procrastinator, but I tend to wait till the very last second to finish whatever needs to be done, so deadlines are huge for me in terms of motivation.

Right now my schedule is pretty much as follows:
Wake up with Nathan - change his diaper and give him breakfast.
Put Nathan in his exersaucer and turn on Nick Jr for Blues Clues while I take the world's fastest shower.
Pop Nathan into his playroom and attempt to eat breakfast myself - eating VERY quickly before Nathan melts down because I am NOT sitting right next to him.
Play time - Games we play are "Climb all over mommy", "open and close dresser drawer and get VERY upset when mommy repeatedly tries to redirect to another activity". "try and put pacifier in mommy's mouth", "eat everything".
Bottle
Nap time (please god, nap time would be lovely)
Wake Nathan up and feed him lunch
Into the stroller for a walk around neighborhood or lake or mall, or maybe a playdate. The key is to GET OUT OF THE HOUSE at some point.
Bottle
Nap time
Play time in playroom where we play games like "How many pacifiers can we drop before running out", "Let's scream our heads off if mommy needs to leave for 5 second to run to the bathroom", and "hey, is that a phone/magazine/book/remote control because I want it RIGHT NOW".
Dinner
Give Nathan to Jeff as soon as he walks through the door
Dishes
Bathtime
Story or playtime
Bottle
Bed
Of course the schedule is subject to changes at the last minute but i try and make sure Nathan gets all his naps in - though I also make sure the afternoon nap doesn't stretch beyond 5:00pm because otherwise he's IMPOSSIBLE to get to go down for bed.
It's definitely been an adjustment over here, but I'm loving everything so far!