What do You do All Day?

I had an interesting conversation with John last week. It started one evening with Daniel coming up to me, saying, "Rock-a-baby Song" (aka "Rock-a-bye Baby"). It's kind of a fun thing we do when I hold either Daniel or Sarah Beth and rock them in my arms like a little baby, singing the song. Incredulously John said, "I've never seen you do that before, but you have obviously done it a lot." As our conversation continued, I realized that John had the impression that I don't play with our children during the day when he is at work.

Now in John's defense, I have to say that I don't play with our children, the older ones anyway, much when he is home. When Daddy is home, they want to be with him and play with him. And I have to admit that I'm ready for some help and a little time off, so I encourage them all to play together. While they're playing, sometimes I will crochet or maybe even read a little bit. Through our times in the evenings, John got the impression that I do a lot of work around the house during the day, but I also crochet and read a lot while the children play. (Don't I wish I could find 15 minutes to pick up a book that has more than 10 pages in it?!)

When John came back downstairs after putting the children to bed that night, I said, "Let me tell you what I do all day." Of course, he already knew about most of the things that I do because the Sock Fairy doesn't really do our laundry, and he has seen me cook and clean. He just did not realize how much of my time I spend, not just dealing with our children, but playing with them as well.

Here's my challenge to you: Find out if your husband knows what all you do during the day when he isn't home. You may be surprised to find out the differences between what you do and what he thinks you do. Of course, you also may communicate better than we do, too, and this isn't an issue for you. I assumed John knew what I did all day; he assumed he knew what I did all day; and we were both wrong. You know what they say about assuming.

(In no way, am I trying to put down our husbands. Since they are not home most of the day, they just don't get to see what occurs when they aren't there. Weekends and evenings are different for the simple reason that they are home.)