Saturday, October 1, 2011

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!

4 comments:

  1. Wow, I'm impressed! I should say that I wrote my post assuming I wouldn't have to work AND take care of a toddler/baby. In my pipe dream, Nathan would go to daycare while I got to stay home to try and tackle some of the disaster that is our home because it is pointless to do it while he is there with me. I admire that you can get that done PLUS take care of Lane at 28+ weeks pregnant! Although, I still wish I could have someone to come and do the ironing for me!

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  2. Oh, I hate ironing too. I've purposely started stocking up on sweater vests to put over Matthew's dress shirts for Sunday because they hide the wrinkles! lol

    One of the things that I love about homeschooling Matt, and the fact that Scarlett requires more exercise is that I can take time out from cleaning to spend one on one time with them to do their schooling/exercise-play without feeling like I'm neglecting my other responsibilities, because I'm still accomplishing something important. That was my biggest issue. If I'm doing all of the housework, I feel like I'm not entertaining the kids enough, and if I'm having an awesome day with them, I feel like I'm taking advantage of having the privilege to stay home, you know? That was always the toughest part for me, finding that balance.

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  3. Alicia, it is a tricky thing to balance! I try to spend good time with Lane in the mornings to "fill up her tank" before getting going on the day's chores. Fortunately our place isn't that big, and we're pretty neat people in general, so it really doesn't get THAT messy or dirty, but still...I feel like I'm always sweeping, mopping, doing dishes or laundry, or cooking. Those are never ending! Add in all the once-a-week or once-every-two-weeks things and I'm exhausted!

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  4. Its nice to read the two different sides of it. Barbara's was funny but yours was true. When I was home it was just working to keep the house looking good...and I don't have a child. If the house was ever really a mess, hubs would just kind of look at me like...so, what did you do all day?

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Thanks for commenting!