What Do I Do?

Barbara over at Footprints in the Sand wrote a post this week entitled "What Would I Do?" about what she would do if she didn't have to go to work. And it made me think about all the work that I do on a regular basis, even though I don't go to work. I wake up at work and I go to sleep at work. Some of the things on Barbara's list I do, but a lot of them are pipe dreams even for those of us who stay at home. Here's a peek at yesterday, which was my day off (meaning Shannon worked at home so could help with Lane a bit, and I didn't have any language lessons).

It all started at 5:30 when Shannon's alarm clock went off. No way was I getting up that early! I asked him to come and get me at 6:15. At 6:34 I woke up and realized that he had apparently forgotten to come get me. I dragged my feet out of bed and got in the shower. Read my Bible and had my prayer time. Got Lane out of bed. And started my chores.

Chore 1: ironing.

I despise ironing. I've purposely managed to get our wardrobes down to things that don't need to be ironed. But the only problem with that is that they don't need to be ironed if you have a dryer. Which we don't. So I have to iron. Ugh.

Chore 2: laundry

We only have one set of sheets for Lane's bed, which means that I have to wash them on the fast cycle and get them hanging to dry as quickly as possible. This time of year is really tricky for laundry, because it's not cold enough to turn the heaters on, but it's damp so you can't hang your clothes outside.

Chore 3: entertaining Lane. And making an apple-walnut cake.

I needed to make a dessert to take to small group tonight. Lane was itching for some attention. So I thought I'd see if Lane was up to the task of helping me out. Surprisingly she did quite well. I was glad I hadn't swept or mopped the floors yet, since a lot of stuff ended up on the floor, but overall she was a good helper and it kept her from getting into trouble for a bit.

Chore 4: sweeping/vacuuming/mopping.

I usually sweep and mop our kitchen/entry/hallway when Lane is asleep because otherwise she plays in the mop water. But after the baking-with-a-toddler adventure, the kitchen floor definitely needed to be swept. After I swept up the big mess, Lane took to the rest of the kitchen. Shannon did take a break from work later in the day to entertain her while I vacuumed the rest of the house, and I did sweep and mop while Lane was in bed at nap time.

Chore 5: cleaning 2 toilets, 2 sinks, 1 tub, and 1 shower.

I hate cleaning toilets. Shannon, God bless him, usually cleans them for me. I'm getting too pregnant (i.e.: big) to clean the bottom of our shower and our bathtub. But Shannon hurt his back last Saturday and has been in worse shape than me for the last week. So this week cleaning toilets and tubs fell to me.

Chore 6: making dinner: Mexican rice and homemade salsa. (Finished apple-walnut cake in background.)

I do make dinner almost every night. We don't eat out very often, mostly because I like to know what's in our food. It's the same reason that I bake most of our cookies and desserts from scratch. Friday night was Mexican night. I make salsa and Mexican rice from scratch, blend up some canned pinto beans, chop up some lettuce and warm up whole wheat tortillas. Even Lane likes it...she doesn't mind the spiciness at all.

Chore 7: more laundry.

And of course there's the normal laundry to do (in addition to bed sheets). And the regular dishes to wash. I studied Turkish for an hour. And after Lane went to bed we pulled out all of Lane's newborn clothes and I went through them to see if we need anything. I pulled out all of the next-size up clothes for Lane and went through them to see what will fit her now and what needs to wait a few more months. We watched a movie. And we went to bed at 10:30, exhausted from the day.

Barbara finished her post with the question, "What would you do if you didn't have to go to work?" I think the appropriate question for me would be, "What would you do if you could still stay home, but could hire a maid to do all your chores?" Because those of us who stay home still have our days full and want days off. We still have loads of work to do. But maybe our homes are messier since we're in them all day? Maybe we have more dishes to wash since we eat three meals a day at home? I'm not sure, but I do know that I'm glad to be able to stay home, even if it is a lot of work!