A Day in the Life of a SAHM

Why do they call us stay-at-home mums? This implies we simply sit around all day while our obedient children play quietly in a corner, meals are magically served at the right time and dirty dishes do not exist. A better term would be work-at-home mum because that's exactly what I and a million other mothers around the world do: we WORK. And we work really hard.

7:30am
Daddy kisses us bye-bye and tiptoes quietly out of the room. Bless the man, he can actually get his own breakfast in the morning and I get to snooze a little bit more. But minutes later, the little warm bundle of joy next to me stirs and I can hear a loud "MUMMY!" Time to wake up.

8:00am
Mummy makes breakfast. Sometimes it's pancakes (Connor gets to drizzle the honey himself) or muesli with milk. Sometimes it's egg sandwiches. He always get a bowl of yoghurt at breakfast and/or a banana and everything's washed down with milk.
Breakfast is usually a leisurely affair unless we have to get ready for a playgroup. This is the only meal of the day where he is allowed to wander around while eating. At all other meals, he sits down in his high chair and stays there till the meal is over.

9:00am
Mummy clears the dishes while Connor inspects the house. It's usually BBC News on the telly at this time of day and Connor loves the theme tune.
After that's done, we settle down for our Lesson of the Day. I've got slideshows to teach him a whole bunch of stuff or we go through his books or puzzles. After that's done, Connor helps Mummy put the laundry into the washing machine and unload the dryer. Then he sits with his nose glued to the washing machine window, watching clothes tumble round and round while I hang stuff out to dry.

10:30am
My little boy starts to wilt and it shows in his behaviour - he starts to whine more and keeps asking to be carried. Time for his morning nap. It normally takes me about 15-20min to get him to sleep and he takes his morning naps in our bed. This is because the master bedroom is the most soundproof room in the house and I'm going to be making a LOT of noise while he naps.

11:00am
He's asleep! This is housework time. Dishes put into dishwasher, pots and pans scrubbed clean, countertops wiped down, toys put away, floor swept... I dash around as quickly as I can. Once that's done, I start preparing lunch. I often cook it in advance and just heat it up later.

12:30pm
"MUMMY!!!"

1:00pm
Lunch is served. I'm not a great cook but each time I call out "Lunch/dinner time!", my son comes running eagerly to his high chair. He gets variety in his diet and I think that is why my son has never been fussy about meals. Besides, he's half-Malaysian and we Malaysians are very good at eating. Today he had leftovers from last night's dinner - roast chicken with gravy served with some rice, broccoli and carrots.

2:00pm
Shower time! He's got gravy in his hair, rice in his diaper and chicken between his toes. We make a game of taking his clothes off. I help him out of his top but leave it on his head so that he looks like he's wearing a turban. After giggling at himself in the mirror, he'll take it off himself. Shower time = shampoo + wash all over + teeth brushed + face washed. I've taught him to say "Ahhhhhhhh...." while I'm brushing his teeth instead of just biting on the brush. Mummy sings songs to him and blows him bubbles. All together a very happy time in the tub.

2:30pm
A very clean little boy plays with his toys while Mummy puts the lunch dishes away. A 2nd load of laundry is put in and the dishes unloaded from the dishwasher. Clean laundry is folded and put away. Then I play with him for a while - we do drawing or finger painting or just chase each other around the furniture.

4:00pm
I offer him a snack, it's usually raisins. I used to give him the whole tub but he'd cram 10 raisins into his mouth and then spit them all out on the carpet because he can't chew them all. So now I hand him one raisin at a time. Or I make him a banana milkshake. This is really good because he gets his fruits and milk in a delicious package.

4:30pm onwards
Pool time! Connor suits up in his Thomas the Tank Engine surfsuit and we head to the kiddy pool and playground in the condo. It's either this or Mummy takes him out for a drive somewhere. I like to drive to Ikano because he gets to enjoy himself in IKEA and at the pet shop. After an hour out, we go back home. I do this so that he doesn't nap in the afternoon. If he does, I can't get him to bed at night till 9pm or so. He's been known to prance around till 11pm after an afternoon nap.

6:00pm
Mummy prepares dinner. Most days Connor has what we have. But since Dear Hubby's been working late and I've managed to shift Connor's bedtime to 7:30pm, I've been preparing 2 separate meals. While Connor's dinner cooks, I simply do the prep work for our dinner and keep it in the fridge. To keep Connor busy, I put an apron on him, let him clamber up a stool so that he can reach the sink and fill the sink with bubbles. A few plastic dishes, a dish brush and he's occupied while I chop and cook nearby.

6:30pm
It's a little boy's dinner time. He gets a popsicle to help deal with the teething pains he must surely have - he's got 4 molars poking through.

7:00pm
Another bath to get rid of the grime. Dear Hubby usually arrives home just as Connor's done with his bath. He gets to spend some time with Daddy while Mummy puts the adults' dinner on the stove. Then it's a goodnight kiss for Daddy and Connor is bundled into his bedroom for the night.

8:00pm
My turn to eat dinner with the hubby. He clears the plates and makes our nightly coffee/tea with biscuits. We watch a little tv while we catch up on the day's news, mostly me filling him in on the cute things Connor has done.

10:30pm
This it. I'm almost dead to the world. It's Mummy and Daddy's bedtime. Zzzzzzzz... goodnight world.