By the way, Joshua never asks me to justify. He’s so grateful I’m keeping mental breakdowns to a minimum these days that he doesn’t care I’m about to radically rock his world by making a lot more meatless meals. Well, he cares a little bit because he hates beans. That’s why I’m going to ease him into it with this yummy sounding deliciousness with no meat added from one of my favorite blogs.
Potato Lasagna. Shhh…don’t tell him it’s on next week’s menu.
Anyway, I’ve got many things I could be doing right now. None of them earn me any money to contribute to the family finances, but some of them save us money.
Like I’ve been researching our upcoming Fall Family Getaway to the Shenandoah Valley. We figure we won’t be vacationing any this summer, we’ve got vacation points to use or lose, and we can swing by and see Joshua’s brother and his wife for the first time in two years, so we’re going to be away over Thanksgiving. Which is kind of fun. It helps us recharge as a family and gears us up for lots of quality time with the rest of the fam over Christmas. We’re staying at a resort near Charlottesville, so any tips would be great. I really want to know if Williamsburg will be worth the 2+ hour drive with three kids or if we should wait until another trip. When it’s warmer and we have 4 kids. And how about Montpelier and Monticello? I love history and it sounds great to me, but will the kids have fun or will they drive me crazy? Tough call. The loved Biltmore, but it was a really big house with a really fun farmyard.
Oh, that was supposed to be about how research saves us money. It’s because now I know the locations of restaurants I have coupons for and where to find the Walmart so we can cook in the cabin. See, now we’re not being impulsive.
And my potato lasagna blog also has this post about homemade laundry detergent. I bought the ingredients, now I just need to make it. But, I cleaned the kitchen this morning and after cooking all day yesterday and the day before that and the day before that…..I don’t feel like grating soap on my cheese grater today.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll save us money doing that. For today, I think I’ll just fold the already clean laundry and plot how I can make leftovers enticing and work on another article to submit somewhere for publication.
Did I mention I’ve already had lunch at school with the girls, reorganized the pantry, filled an open childcare slot at jazzercise, looked at Christmas card possibilities, and put Amelia down for a (hopefully) long nap since she was up at 5:20?
See the justification? How did I ever manage to do all that and work full-time?
Lindsey P. Brackett 
Lindsey, my dear, you are doing beautifully. How I wish I could be at home as much as you are! There never seems to be enough time to do everything I wish I could around the house. I'm always wanting to cook and clean and organize more, when I have to go to class and work and do homework.
There is absolutely NO reason to justify yourself for staying at home, because there's nothing wrong about staying at home!! You're working so hard to support your husband, take care of your children, make your home a beautiful and peaceful place, and feed your family healthfully. That's a lot for one woman to do! Most of all, my dear, you are glorifying God by fulfilling his callings to you of wife and mother. That's an amazing thing.
So, keep it up, and thank you for being such an inspiration to me–I want to do someday what you're doing now!!
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Lindsey, I feel the exact same way!!! I always feel like I need to do a rundown of what I did each day to make sure I was “productive enough”. This is all self produced guilt! I am really feeling it this year since all my kids are in school.
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I totally agree. I think all stay at home moms feel this way at some time or another.
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great post. thanks for linking up!
xoxo.
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