For anyone who has ever asked a stay-at-home mom...

"So, what do you do all day?"

I'll tell you what I do all day. I work. Hard. Anyone who thinks that stay-at-home moms have it easy is either a) not a stay-at-home parent or b) has never had children. Yes, I understand that I do all of the same household chores as those that have full-time jobs, but I also have a baby at home all day with me. A baby who needs fed, entertained, changed, and loved. One might think I am online all day long, but a laptop is a glorious thing to have with a nursing baby who likes to eat...a lot. Or who sometimes does not like to nap unless he is on his mama.

I no longer have an entire Saturday to clean our apartment. It gets (somewhat) clean throughout the week during nap time. That is, if Eli is napping in his swing. Otherwise, I am browsing Pinterest. Hey, it happens. There are some tasks that get put off...sometimes indefinitely. I will probably regret this the next time someone decides to just drop on by. However, there are a few key chores that need to be accomplished on a daily to weekly basis. The ones I would like to address today are the dishes/cooking, the laundry, and cleaning off the dining room and coffee tables.

We still have to eat. And I'm not one to use paper plates. So, the dishes pile up every single day. A former task of unloading and re-loading the dishwasher that used to take 5 minutes can now take 15 minutes while I keep an eye on Eli while he's playing on his activity mat. Was that a cry or a happy squeal? I'm the one who has to check it out. Meals take much longer to prepare when wearing a baby who doesn't want to sit in his bouncer or who decides to get hungry half-way through chopping veggies for a stir-fry. Sometimes it's a miracle that I even get dinner finished at all.

The laundry, oh the laundry. Eli definitely gives our washer and dryer a work out. Babies create a lot of laundry for one tiny person. Between diaper leakages and spit up, he can easily go through a few outfits a day. Throw in the cloth diaper laundry and I am easily doing 3 loads of just his laundry per week. I've been known to wear my jeans probably a bit longer than intended since our laundry can get put on the back burner. Sacrifices, people.

No matter how hard I try, it is almost impossible to keep the dining and coffee tables completely cleared off. The dining table is where we put the car seat, diaper bag, mail, and all the other random items that go in and out of the apartment on a daily basis. I have tried to stop this. I have. But it's just too convenient when it's the closest thing to the door. The coffee table is usually stacked with board books and rattles that entertain Eli throughout the day, not to mention my ever-present glass of water, a plate with a half-eaten sandwich on it, and assignments for a class I am finishing to renew my teaching license. And oh yeah, my camera to capture all of the cuteness that happens around here on a daily basis.

Since this post has turned rather long, and I have yet to tell you the rest of how days are spent as a SAHM...there will be a part 2 sometime soon. You know, when I get a free minute.

Since this post has a lot of words in it...here is a cute picture for you!

Someone has found his hands! 

Oh, and before anyone jumps all over me about having a full-time job plus having to do all of these things with children...I know. I am just writing this from where I am in life right now and my experience. I am by no means telling anyone that I have it much harder than anyone else! I am just answering the question about what I do all day. :)