a day in the life

i know that a lot of people have this certain vision of what a stay at home mom is like. they assume that she sits at home, most of the day. she gets to do fun stuff like watch TV and snack, and talk on the telephone, and stay in her PJs all day long. She has plenty of time on her hands to do whatever she wishes with her day, and that her job is pretty gosh darn easy :)

I do think that this thought process is changing somewhat. There have been some articles recently about what a stay at home mom would be paid IF she were making money doing her job. If I recall correctly it was well into the 6 figure range :)

I know that being a stay at home SOUNDS like an easy job, but trust me it's not that easy at all. When I was working in the NICU, that was hard. It was hard because I had to be on top of everything, and keep babies going in the right direction. BUT, after my 8 or 12 hr shift, I got to go home and not think about vent settings, drug drips, feeding schedules, med schedules, until it was time for me to go to work again. Sometimes that was the next time, but more often that not I'd have a day off inbetween or better yet several days off.

As a stay at home mom of 4 kids, 6.5 and under, i can confidently say that my current job is MUCH harder than trying to save the littlest babies i have ever seen. My current job, never ends, i never get a break from thinking about all of the things i have to do and am responsible for.

Here is a very typical day-
i'll start with the night before :)

last night i got the baby down to sleep at about 9p. i worked on cleaning up the first floor for a while and got some laundry folded and into baskets. after a little while i decided to sit down and watch a little TV. got on the computer during this time and checked my emails and message board that i frequent. checked in here and on my other blog to see if anyone had left comments and then checked 2 blogs that i read from time to time. at 11p i got up and finished up with some laundry and got a load of diapers started. headed up stairs around 1130, hopped into bed and CRASHED! got up at 330a with the baby, who needed a new diaper and a feeding. at about 415a i headed back to sleep and was able to sleep until about 7a when i was woken up by steve and his alarm and then the girls.

i was able to hang out in bed for about an hour or so, then it was time to get up and get ready, and make sure that the girls were ready to go. bella starts school at 9a, but we never ever ever seem to get there on time. EVER. this morning looked hopeful, but she was having her usual issues with hairbrushing and eatting when i finally got downstairs. it's a battle pretty much every day to get her ready to go. thankfully today, steve was home and the baby was sleeping and he let me leave everyone else here while i drove bella to school. so, after convincing her to let me brush her hair, and compromising food with a cheese stick, we were out the door at about 905a. dropped her off at 915a and headed over to the PO, and mailed a late package to a friend that had twins in january. i'm running about 1.5 months behind on gifts and notes these days.

got home right before 10a. and started my daily chores. cleaned up part of the kitchen, got alexandra's clothes put away, cleaned the girls' bedroom and their bathroom. Came down stairs and worked with xandra on her book for her reading test today and then got her ready to leave for kindergarten. she headed out the door at 1112a, and i ran upstairs to wake up the baby who was STILL sleeping!! got her fed, and finished up just in time to throw the two youngest in the car to go get bella from school at noon.

we got home from school and julianna and bella played while i got them some lunch, and again cleaned up the kitchen. finished up washing the diapers and got them in the dryer. fed the baby again and threw her on my back in my ergo baby carrier www.ergobabycarrier.com so that i could do more chores around the house without having to hold her in my arms or listen to her cry in her exersaucer.

answered some emails about some stuff i am selling, and then tried to get the baby down for a nap. steve was heading out to the gym, so he offered to get alexandra from school when he was done. normally, i don't let the baby sleep until after i have picked her up at 225p. so, today annaliese was able to sleep from 130p ( when she fell asleep on my back) till 330p. after alexandra got home i sat down for about 35 minutes. we worked on some school work and she showed me stuff that they had done in school. we looked over a coin quiz she had taken too.

at 445p i got up and started working on dinner, baking bread and making ice cream. tonight's dinner was a lazy one, all veggies, mostly raw. the only thing i cooked was some steamed broccoli. thankfully the girls LOVe veggies. so, dinner like this happens a lot! easy to make and easy to clean up. i got the bread going, and it is currently baking! the ice cream is started and tonight i will finish it up. it is currently 645p and i need to get the dipes out of the dryer and and bella's clothes INTO it.

yes, i don't challenge my brain quite as much as i used to. i don't administer life saving drugs anymore. but, i can't leave my job as mom for as much as a millisecond. if i take even a second too long to respond to someone saying "mom", the kids hit panic mode and there is screaming of "MOMMY" heard from every mountain top in the world. there are a million boo boos per day that need tending to. there are meals and snacks, and the clean up from all said meals and snacks. there are two babies that don't understand " just a minute" to save their lives. there are 6 people that need clean clothes, and a house that just for some reason WILL NOT clean itself. i'm pretty sure that we requested this be a self cleaning model but i think the builders forgot about that feature. i spend the majority of my day till 230p in the car! so, it needs tending to as well. there are sick day on both sides and i never ever get to call out for mine. there are playdates and friends over, there are school parties, birthday parties, and church activities.

there are 4 beautiful faces that rely on me every single day of their lives. and i would not trade that for anything in the world. sure, it might be 'easier' for me to go get a job and do my 8 or 12 hr shift and then not think about work again until the next time i have to go. sure, i could leave my kids in capable hands to go to that job, but in the end, i'd rather be stressed at home with my 4 pretty princesses. i can't imagine doing anything else right now.

so, my accounting for 24 hrs is not yet over. i have to get the girls upstairs now and get them ready for bed. OH NO!!! bella just announced that xandra has hit her :) and apparently i am not hearing her or listening.

until later!