What Women (and MOMS) Do All Day

Recently I was searing the Internet trying to find a good way of keeping track of all the housecleaning things I needed to do during the day. In the middle of my search I decided it might be interesting to find out exactly how many hours per day the average woman spends cleaning. I didn't find a good estimate..but I did find a rather sarcastic reply from a man who said his wife spent 8 hours a day on facebook and then complained about not having enough time to do everything she had to do. Another man then responded about how his stay at home wife/mom shouldn't have had that much to do...I mean, she's home--all.day.long.

Hmmm. Needless to say I was infuriated, but I brushed it aside and continued the search for a good housecleaning schedule. But the thought was still there in the back of my mind, nagging at me, that maybe someone should tell the world exactly what it is that stay at home moms DO every day. I can assure you we don't sit around watching daytime soaps and eating out way through every piece of chocolate in the house.

So, here's a quick peak into my schedule.

Wake up
Breakfast
Get myself together
Get Reagan together
Start straightening house--ie: make beds, return all the little items scattered throughout the house to their proper places, vacuum, straighten slipcovers and pillows, open curtains, unload dishwasher, reload dishwasher, unload dishwasher, start the reload cycle again, put a load of clothes in the washer, wipe down the bathroom sink, wipe down the toilet, empty the trash, sweep the kitchen, laundry and bathrooms, make sure the bathroom rugs and hand towels and everyones towels are hung up so they'll actually dry instead of mildew, throw the clothes in the dryer and/or hang up on the line (trying to conserve energy), swill a cup of coffee, ensure that Reagan has finished her breakfast, make sure she has her vitamins and medication, take my vitamins (IF i remember), scoop the litter box, clean up a few messes that have managed to appear while I'm doing all of the other stuff, pay bills as the mailman delivers them, spend some time on the net (yes, I waste too much time here).

Ok at that point I *might* be through with my normal cleaning. But probably not..after all, those dried clothes are going to fold and put themselves away! Notice I haven't even mentioned spending time with Reagan yet because I NEVER play with her anymore..I know..I'm a horrible mom. I'm just not one of those playful moms...and I feel guilt over it constantly!!!

Some where after all of this, we sit down for school and do our schoolwork, play games, do puzzles. Then we break for lunch. I prepare lunch, we eat, watch a cartoon or two (I should say that unfortunately I would let the tv babysit Reagan quite a bit while I did all of that cleaning and I'm trying not to now...I'm having her help more and follow a schedule of her own to get herself ready..which I still have to supervise and discipline as necessary).

After lunch, weekly work comes in. Here are the other things that need to get done during the course of a week: wash bed linens, towels, loofahs, bath mats, shower curtains, bath toys, dust every room in the house, clean the toilet, wash the cat's bowls and bedding, scrub the bathtub, refill soap and cleaning dispensers, clean the fridge and freezer, garbage taken out and to the curb, clothes out for the week for Reagan, charge the phone (we don't use land lines anymore), mop the kitchen, laundry, bath and entry areas, clean van, wash slipcovers, change out church bag, clean the coffee pot, grocery shop, meal planning and coupons! Oh, and we can't forget play dates, park time, story times and all the other activities we do for our children that get thrown in here somewhere!

Then there's preparing dinner and snacks.

THEN, I have a nighttime routine after Reagan goes to bed: straighten up the house, fill her work boxes for the next day in school, prep coffee pot, put reminder notes on the door for Josh, fix Josh's lunch, straighten and pick up house again and do my own bedtime routine.

I'm not even going to talk about lesson plans, time for devotionals, exercise or me time or time to read all the books I need and want to read...but I do make time for those..because if I didn't, frankly, I'd go crazy.

Should I go on to mention the other stuff that needs to get done but not on a weekly basis? Like cycling out clothing for the kids based on season, repairing their clothes, buying new clothes, cleaning and cycling out toys, windows, cleaning out the pantry,...etc, etc, etc...I'm not even going to list all of those things!

So....there you have it. A (SMALL) glimpse into what women do all day. After reading this, I want to collapse..but I can't. I've done most of my morning work, but I still have clothes to dry/put away, dishes to put away and school to teach..and that's just the rest of the morning before lunch :)