A new type of living

So, it's been about 5 months of being a stay at home mom. It's crazy and hectic, but I FINALLY have the time to do things I've always wanted to do. The biggest one is saving money by being creative! Currently, I'm upcycling a few torn towels, making my daughter and I dresses, making our own cleaners, and so much more. It's just become this new way of life for me. Then, it hit me. Why am I not sharing all of these amazing recipes (and the bad ones) with others? Because I'm a forgetful stay at home mom. That's why. Plus, we are currently potty training. Though the rough part seems to be over, I spent the better part of the last week wiping up little puddles all over. Thankfulky, we have wood floors!
It's definitely been an adjustment from working 40 hours a week to staying home. I'm not saying I don't work at home (there is plenty of everything to be done), but it's also strange to have time to fill. For a while, nap times were terrible for me. Then, my graves disease set in and suddenly nap times were my safe time. I took a nap along with runt and then enjoyed the rest of the day. Once we got it under control, I was once again looking for a way to fill my time without spending money. In November, a nice older lady gave me a sewing machine. I didn't even know there were two bobbins in a sewing machine..... yet, here I am 3 months later making dresses. Oddly, that sewing machine set me off. I'm done shopping for "the perfect" whatever. The perfect dishwasher detergent.  The perfect floor cleaner. The perfect dress. Only to have most of them disappoint me in the end. Now, we've adopted a (sort of) minimalist lifestyle. Granted, I still have my things I won't get rid of, but I also have things I didn't mind sacrificing. In the end, I found the sacrifice was worth it. I sacrificed commercial cleaners and found recipes that blow them out of the water. I sacrificed new clothes for thrift shop refashions. And you know what? I couldn't ever picture going back to the way things were. It's convenient to buy things, but it's so much more amazing to DO things.