What Did You Do All Day?

Most recent achievement: Luke stands up without pulling himself up on anything!

We all know the story of the under-appreciated homemaker whose husband comes home at the end of the day and asks, "What did you do all day?" as if the wife has sat around eating bonbons in her pajamas all day relaxing, when the truth is she isn't out of her pajamas yet because she hasn't had a moment to herself to shower much less get dressed, and the bonbons were all that was readily available without any preparation, and in fact zero relaxation has happened since several hours before the husband even considered waking up.

That homemaker is not me. And that husband is not Derek. But the power of this story is in the truth of people's misconceptions about homemakers, mothers, and anyone who spends their days with children. As this two minute video so clearly shows, we cannot stay in one spot for more than a few moments. Before babies are moving independently they require constant supervision, but are fairly easy to tote around while you do chores. As soon as they are moving, you can say good-bye to peeing in private, doing the laundry without spilling soap on the floor, putting dishes in the dishwasher without the baby climbing up onto the dishwasher door and grabbing for the knives, or typing at the computer without little hands reaching up and pushing the page down button in the middle of your sentence and then throwing a tantrum when you tell them no and give them a different toy. Phone calls sound more like, "No, Luke. Sorry, just a sec-" instead of, "You've got to hear this cute sound Luke is making!"

As baby gets older his awake hours become longer, which means time to yourself becomes more rare. But awake hours also become less and less your own as you spend more time chasing down a deviant toddler. How funny to watch somebody else's child wander down the hallway and start pulling the toilet paper off the roll! Aren't they something, *smirk. How exhausting to be constantly closing doors, correcting bad behavior, and cleaning up the pile of food which is forever appearing beneath the high chair.

But don't get me wrong. It's not all tired feet and baggy eyes. It's also awkward moments of watching your child eat food off the floor in front of your friends, seeing your son notice his reflection in the television screen and laugh hysterically, cuddling up and reading a story before nap time, making snarky faces and hearing your baby giggle with delight, recognizing your child is holding the book right side up, and turning the pages from right to left (now where'd he learn that?), hearing little footsteps come walking down the hall, your child walking straight to you with their teddy bear held up over their head to be hugged, a tiny boy clinging to your legs with his face pressed between your knees asking to be held.