A Day in the Life of a Stay-at-Home Mom

I am a stay-at-home mom. I am so incredibly proud of this. I recently read a repulsive article about how someone "looks down on women who get married and have kids". This is shameful. You should never look down on people for their choices, unless those choices hurt others. We, as women, should be building each other up, instead of tearing each other down. That is all the attention I feel I need to give to that.

As I said, I am a stay-at-home mom. It's the best, and the absolute worst, job in the world. It's the most rewarding and most thankless. It's everything all at the same time. I have one child at home with me, and my other daughter lives with her father. At the time, it was the best thing for her. One thing you should know about me is, that no matter what, I will do anything for my children, even if it hurts me.

Despite the fact that my oldest daughter does not live with me, in fact, she lives clear across the country, we are very close. We talk pretty much every day, play Words With Friends together, and have our own silly, inside jokes. My youngest daughter is with me every day, and she is a constant source of joy and pride. Both my girls are.

I am going to go through a typical day in my life. Every day is a new, and interesting adventure, but they are all pretty much the same. If that makes any sense? Nothing about being a stay-at-home mom makes a lot of sense. It's controlled chaos, and I love every minute of it.

8:00 am: I wake up before my daughter gets up! It's a victory for me!! It means I get a moment to myself. I quickly make the bed, and head to the bathroom. This is the only time today that I will get to use the bathroom in peace. It's the small things that mean so much. I know it's only a matter of minutes before she gets up, so I don't really have time to enjoy the moment. I do what I need to do, and get out of there as quickly as I can.

8:10 am: Sure enough, I hear her now. Get her up and change her diaper. This is quite a struggle. For some reason, she hates being changed. I can't imagine anyone wanting to sit in a wet diaper, but what do I know? Have you ever tried to wrestle with a badger? I imagine it's kind of like that.

8:15 am: Throw the clothes that are in the washer into the dryer, and start another load of laundry. Yes, I had clothes sitting in the washer all night. Don't judge me!

8:25 am: Make breakfast for my daughter. French toast today! Her favorite! She pulls on my pajama bottoms and plays with her blocks at my feet. I try not to trip over her, or her blocks.

8:35 am: Give the munchkin her breakfast, and grab clothes for her to wear today.

8:50 am: Clean her up after her breakfast (why, oh why, does syrup have to be so sticky?) Get her dressed (yet another struggle...think angry badger this time)

9:10 am: Make coffee! Finally!!! How can I survive a whole hour in the morning without coffee? I don't really know. It's all a bit of a blur.

9:15 am: While coffee is brewing, I put the dishes away, while consoling my toddler because her ride-on toy car scared her for some reason. She is wierded out by things with faces that shouldn't have faces. I can hardly blame her.

9:25 am: Pour myself a cup of coffee while my daughter pushes me out of the way to get to the cabinet with the plastic storage containers. I have learned to do a lot of things while leaning towards the counter from a few feet away.

9:30 am: I take a minute to clean up the plastic storage containers, as my daughter has wandered away to play with something else. I remind myself that I need to re-organize the cabinet, yet again. I'll get to it later...

9:35 am: I step out to the porch to bring in the toys that I cleaned last night, while my daughter tries to throw them all on the floor.

9:40 am: I grab the next batch of toys to clean, fill up the sink, and clean the toys.

9:50 am: I finally get to get dressed, and of course, my daughter follows me and pulls the blanket off the bed. I pick it back up, and remake the bed.

10:00 am: I finally get to sit down for a minute to drink some of my now, lukewarm coffee.

10:05 am: I get a little time to play with my daughter. We "read" books. By "read", I mean I attempt to read a page or two of her books before she pulls them out of my hand. I point at things in the books and she tells me what they are.

10:15 am: I finally get around to putting away the clothes that I folded yesterday; another small victory for me.

10:25 am: I sit down at the computer to attempt to check HubPages. I barely get logged in before my daughter is pulling on my pants, whining at me. She doesn't like me to be at the computer for even a minute. She never does this to her father. I feel special (I really do)

10:35 am: I finally get to finish off my coffee. It is long been cold by now. Yummy! I head to the kitchen and make another cup.

10:40 am: My daughter and I play blocks. I stack blocks together, and she proceeds to take them apart. We work on colors and counting while we play.

10:55 am: I take the chicken out of the freezer that I will use for dinner. I put it in the sink to thaw.

11:00 am: It's time for a bathroom break, and my daughter follows me. You don't know how wonderful it is to pee in peace until you have kids. On the way to the bathroom, I notice a shirt my husband left on the couch, and I take it with and throw it in the hamper. On the way back from the bathroom, I notice some blocks on the floor, and bring them back to the living room.

11:05 am: I make an attempt to clean up a few of the toys laying around. My daughter pulls them all back out right away. At least I attempt to control the chaos.

11:10 am: It's time to change her diaper, again. I don't understand why it has to be such a struggle.

11:15 am: I drink some of my coffee; it's almost still hot. I clean up a few miscellaneous things in the living room.

11:25 am: It's lunch time!! I make lunch for my daughter. Today's menu includes a tasty peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich, some crackers and juice.

11:35 am: I set my daughter up and feed her her lunch. While she eats, I sit at the computer and look for a job. I love being a stay-at-home mom, but everyone needs to get out of the house once in a while. I drink more of my lukewarm coffee.

12:00 pm: It's time to get off the computer and clean up my daughter. Why does peanut butter and jelly have to be so sticky? Why does everything have to be so sticky?

12:05 pm: I head to the bathroom again, and again, my daughter follows.

12:10 pm: I finish off my cold coffee, and make another cup. Hopefully, I get to drink this one while it's still hot, but it's not looking good.

12:15 pm: I re-start the dryer, because it finished a while ago, and the clothes will be all wrinkly if I don't. I check on the chicken (not thawed yet). I clean up the counters and wipe them down.

12:20 pm: I clean off the kitchen table a bit and open the windows in the house, cleaning up toys and random clutter as I make my way through the house. I head back to the kitchen and take out the recycling; the baby follows, of course. Thankfully, she is scared to step off the front porch, so she isn't going to wander out into the yard, not yet anyway.

12:25 pm: It's once again time for the diaper changing struggle. Just once, I would like to change a diaper without feeling like a wrestler, trying to pin their opponent.

12:30 pm: Put the battery packs and rechargeable batteries on the chargers. We play the "name the body part" game. She is really getting good, and I try to add a new body part, once she masters the last one.

12:35 pm: She looses interest rather quickly. I have to console her again, because the same toy freaked her out, again. It's about time for someone to take a nap. I only wish that someone were me. It's not. I get her calmed down and ready for her nap.

12:45 pm: I put the little munchkin down for her nap. Hopefully, she sleeps.

12:50 pm: I water the plants on the porch and out in the garden. Yes, I have a garden in January. It's one of the perks of living in Florida! This is as close to "me time" as I get.

1:00 pm: I get the clothes out of the dryer, and put the wet clothes into the dryer. I then fold the clothes and put them away. I'm not letting these sit until tomorrow like I did yesterday.

1:10 pm: I finally get around to making myself something to eat, and drink some lukewarm coffee. I know breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but as Sweet Brown said, "Ain't nobody got time for that!" While the food is cooking, I take the toys I cleaned this morning out to the porch to dry.

1:15 pm: I find a movie to watch (research) and watch the movie while I eat. After I eat, I work on a craft project while I continue to watch the movie.

2:00 pm: I pause the movie to restart the dryer. It was a large load and needs to dry some more. I resume watching the movie.

2:35 pm: I pause the movie again to get the clothes out of the dryer. I fold the clothes while I finish the movie. (It wasn't very good, in case you were wondering.)

3:00 pm: I sweep the whole house; including the porch.

3:15 pm: I put the chicken on the stove to boil. I start prep work on the veggies for dinner and snacks.

3:20 pm: I have to stop prep work, because my daughter is up from her nap. Back to chaos.

3:30 pm: Resume prep work as the baby once again tackles the cabinet with the plastic storage containers. I again have to lean awkwardly over to use the counter. I remind myself again that I need to re-organize that cabinet.

3:45 pm: I pull the chicken out of the pot to cool, and I season the soup. My husband comes home from work.

3:50 pm: I cut up the chicken, put the chicken and veggies into the pot and set it to simmer, as my husband and I talk about our day. I clean up the messes made by me and my daughter.

4:00 pm: I sit down to play with the baby for a little bit. I love the times that I get to sit down and play with her.

4:15 pm: I get up from playing with my daughter to stir the dinner and add more seasoning.

4:20 pm: I head to the bathroom, and of course, my daughter follows, despite the fact that her father is home. She doesn't do this to him.

4:25 pm: I put the rest of the clothes away that I folded earlier, before my daughter can pull them off the couch and scatter them everywhere.

4:40 pm: Yet another diaper changing wrestling match. I can't wait until she is potty trained...I can't wait until she is potty trained...

4:45 pm: I grab something to drink from the fridge, and check on dinner. I pick up some toys from the kitchen floor as I head to the living room.

4:50 pm: I clean up the living room a little, because the clutter never ends.

5:00 pm: I get my daughter's dinner ready, and set her down to eat. Now that my husband is home, I can get a few things done while she eats.

5:10 pm: I check on dinner again, stir the soup and take a taste. Not bad so far.

5:15 pm: I run out and check the mail, and sort through it. It's mostly junk, but I did get a new magazine that I will never have time to read! I'm thrilled.

5:20 pm: I clean the main bathroom. My husband says that since he uses that bathroom, that he will clean it, but he always seems to say that after I clean it, and never before.

5:30 pm: I clean the master bathroom. This is my bathroom that I share with my daughter. It's messy, but not very dirty.

5:40 pm: I check on dinner, yet again. I add water.

5:45 pm: I clean up the baby, and the mess all over the floor, because the universal sign for a small child being done eating, is to throw the rest of the food everywhere. This is why I want a dog.

5:50 pm: Now that the bathrooms are clean, and she is done eating, I get some time to play with her while our dinner continues cooking. She wants to take two spoons and drum on everything. My mother says she is a natural, and that she needs a drum kit. God, help me!!

6:15 pm: Get my daughter's bath ready, and get her jammies.

6:20 pm: Get the munchkin into the tub. At least this wasn't a struggle, at least, until it's time to wash her hair. Why do kids hate getting their hair washed so stinking much? Get her out of the tub and into her jammies. She "brushes" her teeth (chews on the toothbrush).

6:50 pm: Check dinner again. The veggies are taking too long, so I turn the heat up a little bit.

7:00 pm: My daughter wants to play with her puzzles, so we sit down and play with the puzzles. I ask her to show me this animal or that shape. She is great at her animals and shapes. I decide she needs new puzzles. I add it to my mental list of things we "need".

7:15 pm: I divide the soup, put half in a container to go in the freezer, add seasoning, water and noodles to the remaining soup, and set the timer. I try to call my oldest daughter, because she should be home from school by now, but no answer. UGH!

7:25 pm: It's finally time for me and my husband to sit down and eat dinner. We watch the oh-so-thrilling Doc McStuffins as we eat our dinner. So romantic, I know. You are all jealous.

7:50 pm: I clean up the dishes and put the rest of the food away. Is it bedtime yet? I laugh at this... I really do.

8:00 pm: It is time for someone to go to bed. Once again, that someone isn't me. It's never me. I get our daughter ready, and put her to bed. It usually takes her at least a half an hour to fall asleep. She sits in there and plays.

8:05 pm: I clean up the remaining toys that are scattered all over the living room, and in the hallway. My husband offers to help after I am almost done. How sweet of him. I try to call my older daughter again, but again, no answer. That happens a lot, and it irritates me to no end.

8:15 pm: I get to watch a little bit of television with the hubby, but that is cut short.

9:00 pm: The baby is awake again, and screaming. Who knows why...

9:45 pm: I have finally gotten the baby to calm down, so I put her back to bed. I hope she stays there for the night this time. It is now "too late" to call my daughter. For some stupid reason, my ex-husband turns the phone off after 6:00 pm, even though it's a clear violation of the divorce agreement. I try anyway, and for some reason, she answers. I'm shocked. We talk for a while while I straighten up a few things around the house. We talk about her day, how school is going, and the book she is reading right now.

10:00 pm: I call my mom, because for some reason, I haven't talked to her today. I pull my craft project back out while I talk to her. I look over and see that my husband has logged off the computer, and looks like he is ready for bed. My mom and I talk about how each of our days went.

10:10 pm: Hubby heads to bed, and I start the dishes.

10:20 pm: I clean up the rest of the toys, and the plastic containers. I really need to re-organize that cabinet!

10:30 pm: I get a bathroom break in peace! I check my social media sites while I use the bathroom. I have about twenty notifications that really mean little to me, and two from my sister. She sends me Grumpy Cat pictures for some reason.

10:40 pm: I catch up on my recorded shows on my DVR while I draw out the pattern for my next craft project.

11:30 pm: I cut the pattern out and watch another show.

12:45 pm: It's finally time for me to go to bed!! Goodnight, everybody!!

Not every day is exactly like this, but it's pretty close. Sometimes I make spaghetti or beef stew. I kid. Some days are a little less stressful than this, and others are significantly more stressful, but I figured an average day would be the best way to show the world that most stay-at-home moms really do a lot during their day. I mentioned craft projects during my day. I have since started my own small business. It hasn't really taken off yet, but it's getting there, and I am having a blast doing it. So, busy mom just gets busier.