This Modern Working Mom is no longer working. Let's hope it's temporary, and quite.  I started this blog as a way to share the joys and challenges of working motherhood, knowing that when women get together and share their stories, we gain reassurance and confidence and we re-gain a modicum of sanity and our sense of humor.  Working motherhood is a delicate, sometimes difficult juggling act, but most women I know wouldn't give it up for anything.  We've learned that we have a strength and tenacity - and capacity for getting things done - that we never thought possible.  Remember back in high school when doing your homework and talking on the phone with friends made you sooooooo tired that you couldn't get out of bed on the weekends?  Ha!  What working mothers have lost in sleep, they've gained and given in countless other, intangible ways.  These days I'm sleeping quite well, except for the those nights when I'm startled wide awake, wondering if I'll ever work again.

Whereas I used to wake up Monday mornings and think 'here we go, another long week of work until I can rest on the weekend,' this Monday morning I lamented, 'here we go, another week that I'm not working.'  At about 2 o'clock every afternoon, a now-familiar mantra runs through my mind: Enjoy this time.  Physically, I have noticed the lack of stress in my body.  For example, my shoulders are no longer hunched up to my ears and I may not need Botox after all, since the perpetual furrow between my brows (a bad habit when I concentrate), is gone.

So...why am I still writing this blog now that I am no longer classified as a "working mother?" As it turns out, there is a lot to be learned when a formerly dedicated working mother becomes, or tries to become, a dedicated stay at home mother.  Here are some of the lessons that I've learned so far:

1.  Anyone who cleans houses for a living doesn't need a gym membership.

2.  The money that I thought I was saving in gas and dry cleaning costs is now being spent on having the air conditioning running all day.

3.  The laundry is never completely done.

4.  The internet is miraculous and transformative - remember looking for a job in the classified ads of the Sunday newspaper?

5.  Crock pot cooking is a lot less rewarding when you're at home all day to watch the crock pot.

6.  There is no such thing as only 'window-shopping.'

7.  By 1:00 most days, according to my old, working mother standards, I've managed to do "nothing," yet be very productive.

8.  There's a lot more to having a yard sale than having some old stuff to sell.

9.  Enjoy this time.

10. Last but not least: don't judge a stay-at-home mom until you've walked in her flip flops.