A Day in the Life of this stay at home mom

So, my husband and I have this same argument over and over about what I actually do all day while he is at work slaving away. I tell him that I do plenty here and I never get to "clock out" and be done! Most moms who stay at home probably have this same discussion at some point, and it is probably right about the time that you didn't wash his favorite pair of boxer shorts that he really wanted to wear that day! Anyway, I thought I would put it down on paper what my day actually looks like from start to finish for him to see. Everyday is different when you have kids, but basically it goes something like this... 6am: Our 1 year old, Maizy, wakes up and wants out of the crib! I get her up, go to change her diaper and realize, it leaked. So, after getting her changed and dressed I strip her bed and put everything in the washer. Wait! There is still a load of clothes in the washer that I put in there last night, so I put those in the dryer and start this new load. During this time, Maizy has busted into her sister's room and woke them up. (We have twin girls who are about to be 7). They come into the kitchen whining that they are still tired and they want breakfast. 7am: Start making breakfast, but everyone wants something different, so this may take a while. Mental note: We need bread at the store! I put Maizy in her high chair and watch as she manages to get half a banana on every inch of skin exposed! When they are done, I clean up the floor, the table, the dishes, and the baby, but she is beyond a wipe down with banana stuck in her hair, so I have to give her a bath. 8am: Maizy has a dr. appointment to get her 18 month shots today at 2:00 and if I want to be there on time, I need to start getting ready to go now! So, I jump in the shower. I have to get out 3 times because I hear Maizy screaming and I have to go check it out. During my shower, Avery, one of the twins, comes in to poop, and makes my shower even that much more enjoyable! I make an attempt to dry my hair, but by this time, Maizy is ready for a nap and she is following me every step I take crying and wanting me to pick her up. So, I change her diaper, search for the paci for 20 minutes, and lay her down for a nap! 9:30: I can finally finish drying my hair and put my makeup on. NO!!! The phone rings and it is my grandma. She has to tell me every detail of her dr. appointment yesterday and how she ate something bad last night and it gave her diarrhea all night long!!! This conversation goes on for 45 minutes, at which point I hang up and try to continue getting ready to go when.. Maizy wakes up from her nap! I get her, change her diaper, and tell her to watch Yo Gabba Gabba while I finish what I was doing. 10:30: I finally get dressed and pick out some clothes for the kids. I get Maizy dressed and then I start lunch. 11:15: I have lunch ready and the kids sit down to eat and bring their list of demands with them, "Can I have coke to drink?" "I didn't want this to eat!" "Can I take my lunch to my room? I want to watch tv." I sit down to eat a bite, usually it's PB&J every single day!! When everyone is done, I clean the table, put the dishes in the dishwasher, and change Maizy's clothes for the 3rd time already today! After all of this, I realize the clothes in the dryer have been done for a while now, so I take them out, fold them, and put them away, then put another load to wash while I put Maizy's pee sheets in to dry. Now it is 12:30 and my husband calls me from work. He has gotten something stuck in his teeth and his head is hurting really bad, so he needs me to bring him some floss, and ibuprofen to be able to get through he day (yes this has actually happened). So, I load up all the kids, after we search for a lost flip flop for 15 minutes and I even remember to bring Maizy's shot records, and we drive the 15 minute drive to daddy's work to drop off floss and meds. Now it is time to go to the dr. appointment for Maizy. We get there at 1:45 and I chase Maizy through the waiting room, while trying to fill out forms and break up the constant fighting going on between the twins. They call us back and we wait in that room for close to an hour before the dr. comes in and tortures my baby with shots. We finally leave the dr.'s office at 3:35 while Maizy screams the whole way out and half the way home. When we finally get home, I realize I never laid anything out for dinner and we still need bread! So after Maizy wakes up from the nap she started in the car on the way home, we all load up and head to the grocery store. This is a beating for me because the kids HATE going to the store and I'm pretty sure the store HATES when we come. The next 30 minutes in the store consist of me saying the word No! and Stop! at least 600 times and no grocery store experience could be complete without one Maizy meltdown, 3 trips to the bathroom, and 2 pouting 6 year olds because I said no to getting candy at the checkout counter. 5:30: We get home and I send all of the kids to the their room to play while I start dinner. I am attempting to make chicken breasts in the oven. During the next hour while I am trying to cook, the kids are coming in and out of the kitchen wanting something to drink or tattle telling on each other and Maizy is randomly screaming and wanting pieces of cheese from the fridge every 5 minutes. When dinner is ready it is 6:30 and my husband will be home in about 15 minutes so we set the table and get drinks ready. We sit down to eat and when we are done, it is about 7:15. My husband gets off work at 6:30 so where is he? I call him, he is going to be late tonight, probably won't be home until after 9:00. So, I wrap up his dinner and stick it in the microwave. Then I clean the table and try to sweep up all the rice off of the floor that the kids dropped. I unload and load the dishwasher while Maizy takes every dish out that I put in because she is "helping" me. When I'm done cleaning up the dinner mess, I start the baths for the kids. I bathe MAizy in the kitchen sink and the girls in the tub. This whole process takes at least an hour. They all get out, we get on pj's, brush hair, brush teeth, read a story, give hugs, search for the paci, and lights out attempt #1. I go get the clothes out of the dryer and fold them and put them away, then I finally go to sit down when, one of the girls comes into the living room crying because her leg hurts and she can't go to sleep. I give her a drink and some tylenol and send her back to bed, lights out attempt #2. When I went to get her a drink I noticed that the trash was full, so I take out the trash and pick up the toys the kids left in the floor and hang up the towels the kids dried off with and wipe all of the toothpaste off the counter that they spilled and change out the toilet paper roll because it was empty again! Now I go to sit down and my husband pulls up in the driveway. I go warm his dinner up in the microwave and get him something to drink. I sit with him while he tells me all about how busy and crappy his day was, and then I clean up after him and get ready for bed. 10:38: My husband hands me a handful of work clothes and says, "I need these for tomorrow, can you wash them?" Sure. So I stay up waiting on his laundry to wash and dry so I can fold it and have it ready to go in the morning. When this is all done, I look at the clock, and it is now after midnight. I am exhausted and I go slip into bed. Just as I get comfy, Maizy starts screaming in her crib. I get up and go give her back her paci and rub her back for a minutes. Once she is back asleep, I head back down the hall to my room. When I pass the girls room I notice one of them is up. I go into their room and I say " Why are you up?" Maizy's crying woke her. So, I lay down with Avery until she goes back to sleep and then I slip out and get back to my room. The clock says 1:16 am. If I'm lucky, Maizy will sleep through the night tonight. If not, I will end up on the couch with her until 6 am when she sees daylight again and my day starts all over!! It's not quite bon bons and soap operas but it's the next best thing!!