So, What DO you do all day?

As a Stay-at-Home Mom I’ve had a few well meaning (I hope) friends and family members ask me the weirdest question before — “so, I mean, what exactly DO you do all day?”

And I have to say, I was pretty taken aback by it.  I don’t think I would ever expect someone in the workforce to answer that question unless I was interviewing him or her for a job.  Asking what someone does for work is one thing.  Asking for someone to explain how they spend all their time each and every day almost implies something… well, not nice.

But, let’s say the questioner was legitimately curious.  Maybe they are considering becoming a SAHM or SAHD and they want to know what they should expect.

What DO I do all day?

Simply put – I spend time with my kids.

The not-so-simple answer is that every single day is completely different than the last.

Some days involve 2 hour breakfasts with my 4 year old “helping” cook and “helping” clean.

Some days involve frozen waffles out the door to a playdate.

And some days we have breakfast while watching TV because the baby was up all night long and way too early and I just can’t function.

Sometimes we have day after day scheduled with trips to the museum, the water park, soccer tots or the mall with friends.

Sometimes we stay in for most of the week, or even the entire week – like we did when each one of us had the stomach bug in turn (which about made us all go insane).

We spend time building Legos, reading books, giggling in bed, napping, making long train tracks around the house.  Lots of time is spent letting the kids play while I do laundry, clean or check Facebook and emails.

Some days the kids watch too much TV.  Some days they don’t watch any at all.  And some they watch 1 hour max.  It varies because our life is busy and no 2 days are the same.

Today I have one kid dressed and one still in pjs and it’s already 1 pm.  I’ve re-warmed the same cup of coffee 4 times and I think it’s still in the microwave 1/4th full.  But the dishes are done and I’ve been writing this blog post, so I feel good about my day.  Today.  Some days the kids fight too much and I yell too much and I feel bad about my day.

Every single day is different – but every single day I am grateful that I get to spend it with my kids.

So — if you ask me “what DO you do all day?” my response is either gonna be “how much time have you got? Because it could take a while to answer.”

Or I’ll simply say “I spend time with my kids. And most days – I love it.”