What type of mom are you?

United States
September 25, 2009 6:14pm CST
I love my kids with all my heart, but I am the type of mom who looks forward to the school day! I look forward to having 3 of my 5 children out of the house for 7 hours a day each school day. I look forward to my younger 2 finally going to school. I especially look forward to bed time once they all settle down and allow me some "me" time. Then there are moms who do not look forward to their child being at school all day. They prefer weekends when they can spend quality time with their family, especially their kids. Which type are you? Do you usually look forward to the school day, or bed time, or even nights out without the kids? Or are you the type of mom who misses your child too much when they're away from you at all?
1 person likes this
17 responses
@dawnald (85129)
• Shingle Springs, California
25 Sep 09
I am funny (peculiar). I don't really miss them when they are at school, but I'm glad to see them when they are home. If I go away for a weekend or something, I don't miss them when I am gone, but I do miss them as I am on the way home. And I definitely need ME time, LOTS of it...
1 person likes this
• United States
25 Sep 09
I don't miss them when they're at school, but I do worry about them when they're with a sitter, even if it is relatives. I just don't trust anyone to care for my kids as well as I do (except hubby). If I'm away too long I'll miss my youngest 2 a lot, but not the older 3 as much.
1 person likes this
• Canada
26 Sep 09
I hear you about the me time I feel as I don't get near enough of it!
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@Raven7317 (691)
• United States
25 Sep 09
Hi Kat, me, I am just getting used to my son being away from me for any time! He's 4 and in his second year of preschool... He only goes 3 day a week, and with extended programs, he's only gone 5 hours each day... It took me several months to get used to him being gone - I didn't know what to do with myself! LOL As a SAHM, my ENTIRE world revolved around him and when it was time to let him go, I was left feeling like I had nobody to play with! Now, when he's gone, I'm like a mad woman, I get as much housework, schoolwork, shopping and errands done as I can in those few hours... I think of him often, but I can't say I miss him desperately... I just keep saying, "oh, only 3 more hours and I have to do... oh, only 45 minutes and I haven't done...." But, you know as well as I, when they come running into your arms, full of stories of learning, singing, painting, and friends, you suddenly think, "OH, I wish I was with him and I missed him." The only time I actually look forward to is bedtime... this is rest time and alone time for me and DH... : )
1 person likes this
• United States
25 Sep 09
I guess I got over that years ago! Having 5 makes me look forward to the quiet. I suppose if I only had 1 or 2 it would be different.
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@lilybug (21107)
• United States
26 Sep 09
I am like you. I love my kids, but most days I am glad to be dropping my son off at school and I cannot wait till January when my daughter is old enough to go to Head Start. Weekends are usually a headache for me because the kids are always on each others nerves.
@lilybug (21107)
• United States
26 Sep 09
Get Mathieu on the waiting list now. I think it will be good for Lily when she does start because the only other child she is around is her brother now. She was spending time with her other siblings for awhile, but since I am not allowing her dad to keep her anymore she only has Jeremy to play with. I think the social aspect of it will be good for her and good for me getting her out of my hair for awhile.
• United States
26 Sep 09
I signed Aydan up for Head Start, and he qualified, but they were full and said they'd call if they had an opening. I'm still waiting. If he doesn't get into Head Start, then next year there's a free half day pre-K through the school district I can get him into. I can't wait until Mathieu is old enough too, then I can get a part time job or something.
@ersmommy1 (12588)
• United States
26 Sep 09
Typically I am the mom who wants to be with her kids. I hate watching my daughter get on the bus and ride away. She waives at me until she is out of sight. She runs to me as soon as she gets off the bus. As you know I have 2 kids. So my situation is different. I have a few minutes of me time in the morning, and evening. With 5 I know it's different. What counts is the love. Not that they are always glued to your butt. That is just my preference.
• United States
26 Sep 09
I wasn't like that even when I only had 1, but I was still so young. The older I get, the more I appreciate my kids and their current ages and stages.
@patofgold23 (5069)
• Philippines
26 Sep 09
well..I have only one child..and he is now 14 years old.. but I couldn't believe how time flies by so fast and the way I take care of him when he was a baby have not changed up to now... I button his shirt, I cut his food into pieces and all he has to do is eat em...I am always around him..and my friends told me it is so annoying and I should give him space... I guess they were right coz my son always complain about me being too around all the time... and he won't let me come near his school when i pick him up..he just meets me at the corner...coz he don't want his friends to tease him about it.
• United States
26 Sep 09
Every child gets to an age where they want more independence. He's old enough now where he should be learning to be an independent adult, otherwise his wife may have to dress him and cut his food!
• Philippines
27 Sep 09
I know...I am trying to get over treating him like a baby..it's for his won good..i cnt help myself sometimes.... I miss him every single day when he is in school...and I got him a mobile phone and I text him morning noon afternoon..if he's okay ... and he comes home and tells me im annnoying..so i tried to text him less often...
• United States
25 Sep 09
Wow 5 kids, power too, i can barely deal with my 2 boys, my oldest just started preschool, ut only for four hours and they gon very fast, i am actually trying to rush time until he goes to normal school all day and my youngest one start preschool than i would get to do thing i really want. so yeah i guess i am the mom that cant wait till they go to all day school, and is funny everytime i put them to bed and is all quiet in the house, i close their bedroom room and i take a big relaxing breath. is like oh god finally i can relax and watch tv.
1 person likes this
• United States
25 Sep 09
My youngest boys are 3 and 20 months, so they're soon to the point where they'll be getting into school. I've been looking forward to that day since before the youngest was even born!
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• Philippines
26 Sep 09
I think i am both...i look forward to the morning on weekdays...i much enjoy doing stuff such as cooking their breakfast, preparing their things and school uniform. and i look forward to weekends our bonding time. i am a working mom i spent many hours at work so those short hours that i could spend with my kids are very precious to me. it's really not that i misses them a lot but i want to be there while they are growing up. i want to be part of their everyday life because i don't want to wake up one day regretting something because i know nothing about my kids. but of course having a "me" time is also very important because it is also necessary for me to unwind with all the responsibilities that i have in life...
@sid556 (30960)
• United States
26 Sep 09
I think that I'm a little bit of both . I raised 4 on my own and at one point took care of my grandson while my oldest worked and I also worked full time. My time for myself was very limited in that time and i cherished it. I work thursday, fri, sat & sun. 2nd shift and have mon, tues, weds off. I've done this for years. Those 3 days a week with the entire day to myself....I love it. I love the freedom. Still, at the same time....I love the school vacations. The lack of structure and routine. I loved having my girls around. I guess I just took it for what it was as long as everyone was where they should be and when they should be. I loved summer vacations and time with them and school breaks. There has to be a balance. I think because of my schedule being what it is that as long as my girls went to school when they should, I anticipated their time off so that I could have some unstructured time with them. Maybe if my marital status and schedule were different, i'd have felt different about it all. I now have just my 15 yr old at home and i love school breaks and summers. I miss her alot when I'm working.
@gemini_rose (16264)
18 Oct 09
I am not sure really, I love the school holidays, especially the summer one where we are all at home for 6 weeks and this last holiday I was really sad to see them go back to school more so than usual. But at the moment I really look forward to my daughter going to school for 2 and a half hours each morning, I think though that this is due to the fact that she is going through a really horrible stage and I am finding her very hard to cope with just now haha!
@4ofmyown (1119)
• United States
30 Sep 09
I am definitely one of the other kind of moms. I so look forward to summer vacation and other time off that they have. I love having them home and listening to them interact with each other. Now, bedtime is a different story. I do look forward to that time of day. Usually by the end of the day I am ready for the house to quiet down a little and spend time with my husband alone. Very rarely do we go out anywhere without the kids, so the rare times that we do we always say that it is weird without them.
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
26 Sep 09
Hi Katsemeow, well it's just me and my son who is ten and I'm the type who likes the routine of regular school days and then spending some time together after school. The most important thing is that he loves school apart from the getting out of bed bit so I'm happy that he enjoys it so much and has such a good rapport with the teachers. I don't miss him when he's at school as there's no need for us to be attached at the hip. The school holidays are hard as so long, the summer break just ended aftet 13 weeks but it's easier to get along together now he's getting older and wants to do plenty of things for himself. As for the sitter bit it doesn't exist, when I go out he comes with me, or is at one of his friends houses.
• United States
28 Sep 09
I guess I would have to say that I am a little bit of both. I love spending my time with my children as much as I can but I also enjoy having that time for me. I am a stay at home mother of two ages ten and eight, I love the time I have to myself when they are in school that way I am able to get the few things that I need to done but I also enjoy and can't wait for 3 o' clock to roll around so I can hear how there day went...my husband also works till 3 so they all get here about the same time and I really like that we get spend the evenings together. They both go to bed at nine which gives me that time to spend some time catching up with my husband or watching a few missed shows on tv. We spend all of our time with the kids and wait for the weekends to come that way we can just veg out and enjoy being lazy...there are times on very rare occasion that the kids will go visit my mom and we get a chance to be alone but even then I miss them...I always joke with my husband because I will say Gosh, I am going to enjoy our alone time and then I always get upset and miss the kids knowing that they are only 15 mins away and I will see them in a little bit. I think every parent needs some time for themselves but I also believe that some parents take that saying a little too far and don't spend enough time with their kids and I think may not realize that its not all about "me" time. I have been wanting to start a discussion very close to this one but with a different angle, I just have made the time so I guess I will not that this one has been started.
@sender621 (14894)
• United States
26 Sep 09
I share some of the same feelings that you do. I love my kids more than life, but happiness is a school day! Sometimes you just need a break and so do they! I have been a stay at home mom and have worked outside of the home. No matter what my kids always came first. I"m the type of mom who would always want to be here for her child, rain or shine. When the school bus takes the kids to school for the day, it tends to ease the burdens of the rest of the day. I have seen mothers who follow their children to school and volunteer for everything they can to be near their child. The separation between parent and child at school can be a learning experience for everyone. Being a good mother will always be in your heart!
• Singapore
26 Sep 09
I am just a new mother having a 1 year old baby. But unfortunately my baby is away from me as I am working overseas thus, for me now, anytime I've got a chance to be with her is always a precious moment. It is very hard to be away with her and were not able to see how she grow up wihtout me by her side. Good thing though, that my mother in-law is very supportive to us and agree to take care of her.
@roniroxas (10560)
• Philippines
26 Sep 09
i have four children and they are all teens already. now they all have different time schedules and they come in and out of the house of course on different time. i have two college students but here in our country college students go to school and go home as well. they dont live at school. so they are still with me and the yhave different time schedule. i am used to having my children around. i also worry if they come home late than i expect them to come home. children can be handful and i exactly know how you feel but i guess i am not that type who looks forward for me time. even i am out alone i miss them and feel sorry so next time i go out i bring them along with me.
@BlueAngelRS (2899)
• Canada
26 Sep 09
I'm a in between mom I guess is a better way of looking at it lol....Because of heath reasons and my ex husband abandoning me with two kids no income and I don't drive so getting my yougest to a sitter fun right now....But I'm trying to make plans.. I'm a single mom of a 16 year old and a 3 year old....I enjoy having a break from my son sometimes during the day but yet I miss him his little sister loves her big brother so the only me time I seem to get is when he takes her downstairs and she watches some tv and he plays games there are two tvs downstairs....I want to have more time with my kids but with their ages not always easy so the weekends I try and play puzzles or games with both the kids or whatever even is on or we go for a walk....
@lynnemg (4529)
• United States
26 Sep 09
I work all day, so I am glad when my kids are in school because it saves on having to pay a sitter. I am so busy working all day unles while they are in school, I don't have time to miss them. I do look forward to them coming home, but I do not look forward to them bickering with each other. I do enjoy my weekends with them and trying to spend quality time with my family, but I am always ready for Monday morning when it is time for them to go back to school and time for me to go back to work. I think that no matter what day of the week it is and no matter how much I enjoy spending time with my kids, bedtime is my favorite time of the day. For one, I get a little bit of peace and quiet, and for two, it signifies my day coming to an end too. As far as nights without the kids, or even an evening out, I never get that. My kids are always at home and in their beds at night, with the occassional exception of one (normally the oldest) staying at a friends house, and I just don't go out at all unless you include the yearly Christmas shopping that I normally do alone. I can only remember twice since birth that all of my kids were not at home at night. Both were holidays that I had to work early and they stayed at my Mom's.