today i didn't do it

[chulainn2]

What Do You Do All Day?

A man came home from work and found his three children outside,

still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food
boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard.

The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to
the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the

entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked
over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall.

In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel,
and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of
clothing.

In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was
spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food

was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table,
and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more
piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she
might be ill, or that something serious had happened.

He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out

the bathroom door.
As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more
toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap

and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.

As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up
in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at
him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her
bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?" She again
smiled and answered, "You know every day when you come home
from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?"

"Yes," was his incredulous reply.

She answered, "Well, today I didn't do it."

[HighEnergy]

The best thing I did for my kids, my now ex, and my family when I was a stay at home mom was go to a job one day every couple of weeks and leave the dad with the kids. He'd be beside himself by the time I got back, wondering how I could have it all together by the time he got home everyday.

[jeancarleo]

Childhood memories when my parents divorced and I lived with mum and my stepdad. Both of them worked and I was going to school and my grandma taking care of my younger brothers. That was weekdays, but weekends I used to clean and cook for my brothers specially on saturdays when both parents worked. Sundays was more of having the whole family at home or we went out, but when having kids the house it's much mesier. So I guess I know how mums feel.

[shameless agitator]

Being a stay at home dad for a few months gave me a whole new appreciation for this kind of thing. After 6 months I was ready to kill somebody. How anybody ever does it full time is beyond me.

[csrakate]

My hubby never had a full appreciation for what I did as a stay at home mom until the time I left him alone with the kids while I was out of town. When I returned, his words to me were, "Please...don't ever die and don't ever leave me!! These kids are HARD work!"

Thanks for sharing this chu...you have the hearts of all of us stay at home moms and working moms who struggle day to day to keep the home fires burning!!!

Hugs,
Kate

[gfofbiguy]

LMAO!!! How true this is!!! Thank you, Chulain, for sharing this one! I really enjoyed it!:bigrin:

[Alaskaman]

Years ago when the three kids who are now in their early 20s were kindergarten and younger, we moved from arctic Alaska to Wisconsin, where I grew up. My wife wanted to go to college. We had saved, so I took care of the kids. It was as hard a work as I have ever done. It was an apartment in an old building with 100 year dust and dirt. The kids needed constant attention because coming from the arctic they weren't used to the type of life they were encountering, like streets with cars and even lawns and trees. I cooked and washed and prayed for naps. I don't think I could have handled much more than the two years we spent there.

But when I look back at those years, I also remember the closeness I developed with the kids was really special and in some ways different from most of the other fathers. Those memories are good. They still tease me about how excited I was when a new brand of spagettios came out. My world had become smaller in scope, but not in depth of what I experienced.

[csrakate]

A most beautiful sentiment, Alaskaman.....and so true!

[onewhocares]

I too can feel a kinship... When we were building our new home, I, the wife, agreed to handle the general contacting of the project. Bill, my hubby said that he would take care of all the chores at the current home and our daughter. Well my days were fraught with schedules, dead lines, missed deliveries and the like. When it was done, I think that no matter how much work I thought that I had, his job was tougher.

Then two years later Bill chose to work from home instead of his store. He was always there for our daughter morning noon or night. I would never, nor would he trade those years for anything as it has made a bond between them that I could never come close to even though I am the mom. He is a far greater parent than I am. More accepting, understanding, nurturing than I. I have high praise for stay at home dads.


Belle

[FerociousFeline]

Very Nice Chu

Myself, I can relate to this because, although I have no children of my own, I lived with a woman who had two daughters for a few years. I wound up being the authority figure in those girls lives to some extent, and although initially it was very rough going, later it was amazing to me how intimate the bonds that had been created through the process of all the adversity. I miss those little brats now and again, and I hope that somehow, someday, I will get to play that role once again with children of my own. Until such time, I will just take care of everyone. ^..^~

FF

[Turboguy]

LOL....that is hilarious. When the wife and I found out we were gonna have the little one, we decided that I would be the stay at home dad. Things went good for the first few months and I was actually pretty bored. So, I decided to persue my dream of flying and go back to school. Figuring that I would have lots of time to study being at home all the time.......LOL. Needless to say....little one started crawling, then walking.....and now I'm balls to the wall school and trying to study with him here.......it works...but OMG......I don't recommend anyone being as stupid as me!! LOL

T

[rissababynta]

that's actually what i'm doing right now. i am living with my hubby, our two kids, my brother in law and his girlfriend, and their too kids. the brother in law sleeps until he has to go to work in the afternoon so he is useless. his girlfriend sits on the computer all day playing WOW so she is useless. My hubby works from about 8 in the morning til around dinner time if not around 10 o clock at night so he can only do so much and i am left to take care of all FOUR kids and feed them while she is preoccupied. my brother in law gets mad a lot because the house is a total mess everyday and he has the nerve to say things to my hubby about how i'm not doing enough around here. even when i asked her last night if she would help me clean up she said no, that she would do it tomorrow. it is now almost three o' clock in the afternoon and she is sleeping...and i'd like to know when she plans on cleaning. in either case, i made up my mind that i'm not doing SHIAT anymore til i get a little help and i told him if he wants to keep bitching about me then fine cause as long as he makes himself invisible around the house, he doesn't see how things really are around here anyway.

this post really cheared me up. i can't wait to tell tony about it when he gets home tonight.

[kitten]

great perspective and appreciation for those that work the hardest.

Thanks Chu - for the lift and laughter!

[Cherokee_Mountaincat]

lol When I broke my back in 1991, I was in the hospital for quite a while, leaving my now Ex and 4 kids at home to fend for themselves. My oldest daughter finally informed the boys and my Ex that SHE wasnt the maid, and if she came home from school to a wreaked house One More Time, that she was going to reinact the old Bill Cosby line. She was going to pick up a yard stick, and the beating were going to commence!!! lol
She said "I dont know how the hell you did it, Mom. I never Knew how hard your job was with taking care of the house, the shopping, the Veterans phone calls and the yard work and cooking, ect. And putting up with those damn boys and Dad!"
She vowed to be more helpful when I got out of the hospital, and threatened Everybody with death if the house was messed up when we got back home from her picking me up..lol
To quote Bill Cosby, "Dear, I've Seen your job, and I dont Want it" ;}
Cat

[BreeIsMe]

very very true

there is no doubt that raising kids and being a "stay at home Mom" is a JOB and a BIG one!!!

also with no coffee breaks, no lunch breaks, and no 40 hour work week (more like 168 hrs/week!!)

Bree