what do you do all day?

so here's the thing....i think the ongoing feud between working moms and stay at home moms is a little silly. as far as i am concerned it is a choice each mom should make and for some moms, staying home is best and for others it is not. however, lately i have been confronted with the same question over and over again. "what do you DO all day?" seriously, what do i do? i actually cannot believe that anyone would ask that, but they have. over and over within the past year i have been asked about what i do all day long while i am home with isabelle. as if i do nothing. so i decided to answer that question. here is what i do ALL day long (not 8-5 like working people).

plan and prepare three meals and one snack each day for isabelle, feed her those said meals and snacks and then clean both her and the floor/highchair after each meal and snack. sounds easy enough...until you consider the fact that some days she will eat anything i put in front of her, and others she will only eat cheese, or crackers or some other random food that i have to figure out by first trying about ten other options.

oh..and i have to eat. and i cook dinner most nights for my husband. which if you know anything about me is a BIG change from our early married days where jason did all of the cooking.

housework, housework, housework. being at home all day automatically means the house gets dirty faster than if we were gone all day. so each day i take time to do some housework. dishes and laundry are done daily and then there is cleaning like vacuuming and dusting and cleaning the bathrooms that are done 1-2x per week.

taking care of the family finances. balancing the checkbook, paying bills, making our budget and going to the bank when needed.

errands....i take care of all the grocery shopping and any errands for isabelle like diapers, etc. i also use errand time to make mary kay deliveries.

run my own business. yes, i stay home, but i also work. in addition to holding appointments after jason gets home and on weekends i also use time during the day to make phone calls to book new parties/facials, call current customers, maintain my books and general filing and office work that would be done in any office.

entertain/teach/love/spend time/play with isabelle. you can't leave a child to their own devices all day long. so people who think you can just sit around and eat bonbons while you are home with a child are sadly mistaken. think about what you would want daycare workers or a babysitter to do with your child...ignore them??? i think not. so each day we spend time outside (if it is nice), playing toys, reading books, dancing, whatever will make her happy!

and while this list is far from complete i hope it does give people an idea about what a stay at home mom does all day long. and i hope that people who ask "what do you DO all day long?" will get a clue that just like working moms, stay at home moms and work from home moms are not sitting around watching soaps and eating ice cream all day!!!