A Day In the Life Of A Stay-At-Home Mom (Part 1)
Do you wonder what a day in the life of a stay-at-home mom is like?
The house is not always tidy and I do not always have free time to spare. I do not watch tv dramas or gossip with my other stay-at-home mama’s over the phone (although I may binge-scroll on social media). My day is usually a mundane routine that is filled with food battles, nap tantrums, never ending chores and errands, little victories and big joys.
Let me share a play-by-play of my typical day in the life of a stay-at-home mom.
This morning I was jolted awake when a small palm smacked down on my nose. Rosie has a habit of crawling on top of me when she wakes up. I’ve realized that it’s because she wants to be as close to me as possible and I’m flattered but sometimes it just plain hurts.
It’s 6AM so daddy, who is already up, hears me screaming and takes her off my face. He takes her for an hour before he leaves for work at 7AM. I am super thankful for that extra one hour of peaceful sleep. Rosie is always so bubbly and hyper in the morning. I never quite know how to feel. It’s just such a pain to wake up on the wrong side of bed every single day. On the other hand, she’s just so cute. It’s hard to be too annoyed with her for too long.
I’m up around 7AM whether I like it or not. I scramble to get some breakfast made while Rosie plays in the living room. Today we’re having cheerios, scrambled eggs and blueberry oatmeal. I gotta always make sure there’s a good mix of finger foods. Rosie loves to eat independently with her hands. No matter what, shes a pro at making a mess. I stopped letting her eat blueberries by herself because she loves to feel the blueberries burst in her little fists. Just thinking about one more bright purple blueberry stained outfit has me fuming inside. Today she purposely drinks gulps of milk that are too big and spit it onto the tray. The cheerios are all soggy and she is delighted to spread them everywhere. She pretends to eat scrambled egg but later I find most of it under her bum and some in her hair (she likes to scratch her neck and ears with her foody hands). Clean up takes just as long, if not longer than meal prep.
We do our morning routine. Rosie is a baby with an agenda. She has no time to stay still. It’s ironic though because the whole process takes triple the amount of time when she doesn’t stay still. I’m still working on mastering the art of putting on a diaper and pants on a baby on the move.
It’s almost 10AM and Rosie plays in her room while I catch my breath and grab a little me time. Me time usually means realizing my bladder is exploding but I got distracted too many times to count. I wash up, apologize to my starving bunnies and feed them, put the milk back in the fridge and settle down in Rosie’s room beside her.
Rosie is decently independent with playing in the morning. Today she is walking back and forth while pushing her IKEA toy box (as a walker), looking in the mirror and making faces at herself. Then she opens her dresser drawer and starts pulling out her clothes. I scold her and she giggles and puts them back. She LOVES to pull out all her clothes but the funny thing is, she LOVES to pick them up from the ground and put them back too. I’m just scared she’ll accidentally slam the drawer shut on her fingers if she gets too excited.
I’m sitting on the floor beside her with my Bible open. I read out loud because they say an infant is supposed to hear a few thousand words a day (don’t quote me). It exposes Rosie to vocabulary we wouldn’t normally use. And it simply helps me to focus on what I’m reading. Today we continue trekking through the book of Daniel and I finish feeling encouraged. God’s hand is over all things: kings and nations, the elements, living creatures, man’s heart – why do I worry about the things I worry about?
I’m surprised I got to where I wanted to end off. Rosie would usually start clinging to me for attention but today she continues to putter. Afterwards, we play together. She loves colourful balls so we collect her assortment of balls and roll them back and forth. Honestly her attention span with her toys is not great. We usually end up goofing off by making silly faces, running back and forth (while I hold both of her hands), or watching Pinkfong.
Nap time today is at 11AM. We’ve been working on transitioning Rosie to one nap (instead of two) every day. Luckily for me, she is still adjusting so she’s pretty tired and falls asleep quickly. I relievingly sneak out of the room for some real me time.
Stay tuned for A Day In the Life of a Stay-At-Home Mom Part 2!
16 Comments
arti@escapewriters.com
I can really feel you..specially the morning struggle..my daughters are still sleeping like a marry go round…so not only in morning but even at middle of the night I get a free kick on my face🤣🤣🤣..the most irritating comment for SAHM is what u do whole day??? I keep avoiding to answer such pathetic question. Lovely initiative, love to read this and feel that we all are inspite of any country or religion.
Shea
Please hear me when I say, I know ALL TOO WELL the struggle. I often have people say, especially my dad, “I don’t understand how you can be so tired. You stay home all day!” If only they had a clue what goes on at “home all day”
eunicezhou
right?? haha my mother is always concerned that I’ll be too bored at home. Sometimes I wish I had more “boring” moments
eunicezhou
Thanks for your kind words! Haha I love how you describe it – sleeping like a merry go round is the PERFECT way to say it.
Annie Wang
wow thank you sharing!
eunicezhou
you are so welcome 😉
Christina Erickson
I really had the wrong idea about stay at home moms before I had kids. It’s so much harder and more time consuming than it looks! Glad you are getting the word out!
eunicezhou
you are right mama! I was in the same boat as you wondering – how difficult can it really be? I’m still trying to figure out how the day flies by so fast.
Lisa
You do a great job really telling what it’s like. I am a stay at home mom myself, and this is the reality. It isn’t always lovely, but it’s a blessing to be able to be home! I am glad there are women out there who are keeping it real!
eunicezhou
Thank you for your kind words Lisa! It sure is a blessing although I need to remind myself of that more often! It’s easy to get bogged down by the day to day tasks.
Lynsey West
I can relate to this so well! Staying at home with children is not the glamorous life I imagined it would be when we made that decision with my first. But I wouldn’t trade the everyday moments for anything else! You’re doing good work, mama!
eunicezhou
Thanks for the encouragement mama! These really are precious everyday moments 🙂 Rosie is meeting milestones left right and center lately. I’m so glad I am there to witness all of them!
Kattiah West
Such a relatable post, especially for me being a SAHM of 3. I will now be a regular on your page 🙂
XO, Kattiah
eunicezhou
Thanks for your kind words Kattiah! I can’t imagine how full your hands must be with THREE munchkins haha
Gwendolyn
Being a SAHM is a tough job!! I love that your husband spends that hour in the morning with your daughter before he goes to work! What a wonderful thing for you to have that extra hour of sleep 🙂 I would love to “sleep in” these days, AKA sleep until 7 or 8. I am up at 5-5:30 to work on my blog, feed the cat, go for a walk with my friend and just enjoy a hot cup of coffee. I enjoyed reading this post and you’ve inspired me to possibly write a similar one about my day as a SAHM with my 2 year old 🙂
eunicezhou
I am soo thankful for him! He sacrifices his own “me time” so I can get that extra hour <3 I wish I were able to wake up early to be productive like you – I'm always full of ideas but it feels impossible to have enough time to go through with anything!