It’s hard to articulate what exactly a stay-at-home mother does all day, especially to her husband, who comes home and wonders how it can take two weeks to fold one basket of laundry or why taking a shower is the Holy Grail of any daily routine.
One afternoon, I recognized these questions in my husband’s eyes as he walked through the door to groceries still sitting in the mudroom, crafting paper and beads strewn across the floor, and no dinner on the counter. He would never say anything, but I could tell in his eyes that he thought my day had been a failure — and in my heart I wondered if he thought I was one, too.
The strangest thing for me in that moment was that I had just been thinking what a wonderful day I had enjoyed with my children. It was one of those days where no one was bickering and we all seemed to just be enjoying being together, going to the park, getting groceries and then getting out every craft supply in the house and making creative knickknacks for no reason at all. We were singing silly songs and losing track of time, so making dinner and actually getting the groceries into the cupboards didn’t happen.
I realized as my husband surveyed the scene that he was seeing my motherhood from a very different angle than I do. I would bet many husbands struggle with what their wives accomplish as stay-at-home mothers. I mean, if he doesn’t get his job done at work, he gets fired. Why can’t she stay on top of her duties, too?
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Lead image from Deseret News.
