Friday, October 10, 2014

SAHM's

What do stay-at-home-moms do all day? I've gotten a few versions of this question lately, mostly out of innocent interest. Uh...that is a very good question. Dave would say it involves bon bons and a couch and Maurie Povich. Har har, he's such a kidder. I prefer Oprah.

The truth is, sometimes the days are so packed that the list doesn't end. I wish I could hire someone to follow me around and record my day. I would be very interested in stats like how many dishes done daily, rooms tidied, books read (and which books, on repeat), ouchies kissed, meals prepared, laundry done, treats baked, accidents cleaned up, shoes tied, swings pushed, play dates organized, carseats buckled...well, like I said, it's a long list. Of course, I'd be afraid they might record things like "time spent on Pinterest" or "times locked in the bathroom...alone" so maybe that wouldn't be a great idea. But on the whole, SAHM's get stuff done, all day long. It's legit.

Although, breaking news, I'm not solely a SAHM these days. I just got a very part time (like part of a part of a part time) gig with Dave's school. I am one of their newest bloggers! They want to post stuff on their site that might be of interest to prospective students and their families and they are going to pay me to write about it! Just four posts a semester, it's not like they are publishing my book or anything, but I am so stoked! No one's ever wanted to pay me for my blogging habit before!Your spazzy neighborhood blogger's goin' pro! Hmm maybe I'll have to refer to this blog by "TMF" instead of "The Munion Family" you know, for ease in conversation as it becomes a regular household topic. Haha. Ha. Stranger things have happened! Can't think of any just this moment but...

I'm sorry.

Back to question that started this post. I was going to tell you about what we do all day. Yesterday, for example"
  • Up at 6:30. Not by choice, but because Joe crawled in bed, sat on us, threw glasses at our faces, turned on the light, and then, as a last resort, thumbed open my eyelids and stuck other fingers in my nose at the same time. His fine motor skills are really improved of late. 
  • Dave gets ready for school and meetings, I get breakfast going and change soggy diapers. 
  • Curious George is on while I do the dishes when I hear the water on upstairs. I go check and they are filling the pot from their potty chair in the sink and using it to dip their toothbrushes in and brush their teeth. 
  • Save them from themselves.
  • Finish doing dishes and get everyone dressed for the day.
  • I tell the kids to find their shoes and jump in the shower (they get distracted and play anyways). When I'm out and in my dressing, Riley throws open the door and has brought binoculars which she proceeds to peer at me through, saying nothing. I grab a towel and say, "Excuse me Mommy's getting dressed!" She says, "Mommy's got brown eyes like Joe!" and leaves. Ok.
  • Go for a walk. Riley is pushing a stroller with her baby doll and all is autumnal and crisp and glorious till Joe knocks baby out of the stroller (almost caught on camera) with his "socka ball". Time to go home anyway.
  • Neighbor friends come over to play. The little boy, Riley's age, searches for planes and can't find any among our toys. He asks me if we have any, and I say I don't think so. He asks when his mom is coming back. Ha! But then they get busy with books (we find one with an airplane in it!) and he is okay to stay. 
  • We paint with watercolors, play tag, and do a workout video while I make lunch.
 (This video is the best video that Suzette ever bought for her 1st graders that didn't work out for them but my kids love. We do it about every other week in the winter. It seems a little psychedelic to me but they love it.)
  •  Their mom comes to pick them up and we enjoy adult conversation for a good fifteen minutes before they head home for naps. 
  • I want a nap! I try and I try, but the kids just lay there and giggle till they can't help themselves and then dog pile each other. After an hour, I quietly give up and go out. It takes them five minutes to notice I'm gone.
  • We make cookies.
  • We go for a walk.
  • Riley, cranky and tired, melts down when I don't let her jump the fence to the preschool playground. I see it's time we go home, so I pick up their two scooters in one hand, Joe in the other and try to get her to follow me but she stays by the fence screaming as I walk away and another mom thinks she's lost and comes to help. I drop Joe and return for her, carry her and get Joe to follow us home, put her in bed and rub her back till she falls asleep five minutes later at 4 o'clock. It'll be a late bedtime for that one. Joe and I rock and read and watch some Charlie Brown.
  • I make dinner and Riley wakes up about 5:30. Riley eats and enjoys her roasted veggies along with her sausage and that, my friends, is a success!
  • Baths, reading, bedtime. 
  • Joe is out. Riley sneaks back down and watches me do dishes and gets carried back upstairs twice till she finally stays there at 9:15. I should be organizing the bathroom (we've lived here a month and still not all unpacked) or something, but instead I watch TV till 10 (Parenthood, not Maurie Povich!), head to bed and read for an hour till Dave gets home from school. We share a few tired minutes of catching up and swapping tales and then pass out.
You still with me? That was a typical day - not perfect, but pretty good and pretty entertaining. I have to say, I mostly love it. I have a dozen moments a day when a tiny hand reaches for mine or a growly little boy says, "Hanks, MOM,"  or someone asks, "Mommy, you want to hold me?" or I have them both nestled into my side, that I wouldn't sell for a million dollars. Well, maybe one cuddle for a million. Then I'd be set. But that's it!

I know, right? No one ever ask Heidi Munion what stay-at-home-mom's do every day ever again - she won't shut up! 

One more perk of my job (my full-time one, not the part of a part of a part time one): the other SAHM's! I have made some awesome friends at this. Our kids play and we get to know each other and share advice and encouragement and exchange babysitting. I literally just got a text offer from one of our friends and just like that, the kids are taken care of and Dave and I have a date tonight! What an awesome friend! Dave and I will get some much needed time together and Riley and Joe will get all their energy out with friends and then go to bed easy peasy.

♫ And I said to myself, what a wonderful wooooorld!♬

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