4.19.2010

important work

I often wonder what moms do all day. I for one feel like I'm constantly feeding, wiping, changing diapers, doing laundry and cooking from dawn to after dusk, and if it wasn't such necessary work, I'd probably go nuts, feeling like my wheels are spinning day after day. I keep reminding myself that this IS important work, even though it may seem like drudgery in the moment. I also wonder how many bloggers keep up with their blogs during the day along with minding the kids and keeping the house in check. And I just have one kid to watch!

Here's what I did on Friday, which is a pretty typical day for me.

7:00/7:30am--woken up by SoJo when Mr. Geek brings him upstairs so he can shower and get dressed before work. S wakes up around 6am and the Mister gets up with him and so generously lets me sleep in.
7:30/8:00--eat breakfast (usually cold cereal or toast), give Sojo something to drink or feed him if he didn't want to eat for Mr. Geek. Pour a cup of coffee for myself.
8:00--Put on Sesame Street for Sojo, check email, clean up breakfast, feed Oscar the cat.
8:30--S wants me to play or hold him. Sometimes he'll watch the entire hour of Sesame Street, other times he wants my full attention.
9:00--shower and/or get dressed while S plays in his bedroom or the playroom
9:15/9:30--put in a load of laundry, start pizza dough in the bread machine, put seedlings outside, mix dye bath to dye a white shirt that I don't like and dunk shirt in it.
9:30--walk with S to the park. Stop to pick up every rock or stick on the sidewalk. Then play at the park, including in the giant sand box. I couldn't help it today, since they had just filled it with new, fresh sand and it was a huge sand mountain. Laugh while he rolls around in the sand and try not to think of the effort it will take to clean him off later.
10:45--walk home from the park, again stopping to pick up every rock, stick or odd item in the street. Console S when the neighbor's dog is not outside for him to say "hello" to.
11:00--hang wash out on the line while S plays in our sandbox. Since he's already sandy, it's ok. Put another load in the washer.
11:15--start lunch. Saute leeks and mushrooms for pizza, wash/prep a salad, roll out dough. S pushes cars around the kitchen and in the mudroom while I work.
12:00--Set table, finish salad, serve lunch to Mr. Geek, S, myself, and a guest who works with the mister. Eat lunch.
1:00--Mr. Geek puts S to bed before going back to work. I then have to go upstairs to get him to sleep, as he keeps crying for Mommy.
1:15--clean up lunch, put away perishables, rinse out dyed shirt.
1:30--Go online, write a blog post, check email, get distracted by too many blogs and websites to focus.
2:15--Wash dishes. Rinse out dyed shirt. Should have let it soak longer but was too eager to see the results. Throw in a load of diapers in the washer. Clean the bathroom and pick up around the house. Work a few minutes on an ongoing craft project.
3:00--S wakes up. Change diaper, bring laundry down from upstairs. Build a train track and play with S for a while. Do some coloring with him.
3:45--Go out in the backyard with S. Fill up some pans of water for him to play in. Gather trucks to use with it.
4:00--Go to neighbor's house with S to feed his cat while he's out of town. Play on his wonderful old wooden swing hanging from an oak tree, and run around his lush yard.
4:40--Mr. Geek comes home and plays with S while I make dinner--leftover pizza and salad.
5:00--Eat!
5:30--Clean up dishes, sweep kitchen.
6:00--Mr. Geek, S and I take a walk down to the train tracks and around town. Throw rocks into the creek.
7:00--Get S ready for bed, give him some milk, brush teeth, read stories, sing "Mommy's Song" to him. Put on my pajamas.
7:30--Pick up toys, bring seedlings inside since it's going to be near freezing tonight, scoop cat litter
8:00--Brew hot tea, then flop down on the couch and watch Mad Men DVD. Most evenings I'd go online for a bit or watch something on TV.
10:15--Yoga stretches, wash face, brush teeth,
10:45--Go to bed.

I'm not quite sure why I felt the need to compile this exhaustive list--maybe to validate what I do all day, not just to others but to myself. It's so easy for people to think that when you stay at home with your children that you just park them in front of the TV and go online. Which is so not the case, at least for most of the day. :). I don't know about you, but I have to keep telling myself that what I'm doing is the best, most important work in the world, raising children and keeping a good home. Back to another week of important work!


9 comments:

Braley Mama said...

Great work mama!!!!! And Sojo will be so thankful, when he is 30 with his own kids:O)
But seriously, it is hard work when done right! And you are doing it right!

Happy said...

Drudgery as it may feel sometimes I am finding it to be so worthwhile now that I am a stay at home mom! I love the industrious feeling I have at the end of an accomplishing day!

Muthering Heights said...

Ha! I know what you mean...I can't sit down to accomplish anything blog related until AFTER 8pm!!

laura said...

That sounds like a great day. You are going to have a really good bond with him that can only pay off for everyone as he gets older.

Sarah B. said...

I totally agree. I'm a SAHM and blogger. Sometimes I feel like a hamster on a wheel made out of laundry, dishes, and diapers. I do feel like it's the most important job out there. It certainly is a tiring one. Keep up the good work. :-)

Sarah

Mommy's Minute
http://mommys-minute.blogspot.com

Owen's Mom said...

Okay, I feel like a lump now... Lol. I got way less accomplished on my Friday, and a little more today. Just today I was thinking that the floor will just get dirty again, and the dishes will pile up. It is a vicious cycle, I tell ya!
SAHMs & Bloggers are important, modern day super heros, in aprons and sporting cell phones instead of capes and rubber nipples.

Stephanie said...

Yes! It is the most important work. Parenting is exhausting, overwhelming, and...so rewarding.

stephanie@metropolitanmama.net

Cindy said...

Your day sounds like mine. Up at 5:45 to get one kid off to school. The other one gets dropped off at 7:30. My sewing classes start at 10. Back in the pick up line at 1:45. Homework, dinner and back to the sewing studio for more classes in the evening. Come home to the dinner dishes, wet towels getting ready to do it all over the next day. It's exhausting! But we do it because we care deeply for our little people and how they turn out. If we didn't care we would be at the gym, getting our nails done while other people took care of our family and home.
Keep up the good work!!!! You will be rewarded in the future..maybe not the near future. LOL

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