Apparently there are people out there who still don't know exactly what the stay-at-home mom (SAHM) does all day. I mean when I "applied" for this position I had NO IDEA HOW HARD IT WOULD BE but I had a vague idea of what I'd be doing all day. I'm dead serious. It is so much harder than sitting in a square cubicle crunching numbers in Excel, cataloging frozen blood, analyzing monkey pee, manufacturing life-improving cancer drugs, and even bartending in a crowded bar on my feet all night.
Today a friend of mine forwarded an article from the Washington Post where a lady (without kids) wrote in questioning the typical mommy day even going so far as to say that stay-at-home moms probably have kids as an excuse to stay home, relax and enjoy. Relax? Are you serious? I can't tell you the last time I relaxed. I know it's important but there's just not enough time. Enjoy? Yes I am enjoying the time I'm spending nurturing and teaching my children. But it's no day in the park (no pun intended).
In response to the article and for those reading my blog, wondering what I do all day, here's a quick list off the top of my head.
* Prepare three meals a day (includes meal planning, recipe scouring, grocery shopping, cooking or acquiring takeout, and storing leftovers)
* Feed baby every 4-6 hours (that's about six times per day...and night)
* Laundry for four people including clothes, sheets, and towels (sort, wash, dry, fold, put away)
* Dishes for three meals and four people
* Get kids dressed in the morning (pick out clothes, wrestle and wrangle to get pants on after shirt before she runs off pantless)
* Change many diapers
* Pick up toys ALL day long in various locations throughout the house and return to playroom
* Rock, cuddle, swaddle and try to calm baby down multiple times a day
* Play with kids (i.e. educational hour)...includes learning numbers, ABCs, animals and their sounds, colors, sign language, words, sentences, climbing, singing, dancing, jumping, etc. I am their primary teacher and they have A LOT to learn.
* Sometimes we go to the park or for a walk or to a playdate at a friend's house
* Go to Target for necessities like paper towels, diapers, and lotion forgetting to buy medicine for the fourth time this month
* Wait patiently for daddy to get home from work so we can ask him to help with bathtime and bedtime because by the end of the day I'M EXHAUSTED.
So for anyone who thinks being a mom is an excuse to relax and enjoy the day...please don't have children or you will be very surprised. It's a hard job whether you stay home or go to work. I can only imagine what it's like to be a working mom because I'll probably never wear those shoes. But the shoes I do wear are those of the job, Mom. Being a mom is hard no matter which path you take but can be very rewarding. I wouldn't trade it for any other job out there!
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2 years ago
1 comment:
You need to try to submit that as a rebuttal to the ridiculous Post article. I HEAR you in everyway, trust me! I stayed at home with Noah for 10 months and have been working ever since and I have to be honest that going to work is so much easier than the day at home with the kids. Having said that, I never really feel the exhaustiion because its only two tiny days that go by so fast and I'm trying so hard to relish each minute with each child but I do notice that when I sit down on the couch around 10pm, I drop down and am sore! I think what you're doing is awesome and do often feel jealous of the SAHM. However, I do have to do what's right for my family, right? Anyways, keep up the good work, I am reading every blog and really loving it...E-mail, text, or facebook me sometime, but don't you dare call me. :)
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