LET'S TRADE FOR A DAY!

You know how your spouse sometimes take things for granted when you are a SAHM; they come back to quite a neat house (Not exactly spick-and-span, but at least not in a complete mess), with hot dinner prepared, clean clothes to wear, the kids are fed/cleaned, and then they start to think your 'job' at home is actually pretty simple and most of the time you are probably just sitting on the sofa shaking legs? This is what a lot of mommies have been complaining about recently, online and offline. Well, my thought is, let's trade for a day and see what happens? ^^ Here's what I did...

Image taken from www.pinterest.com.

Though my hubby helps in taking care of our LO and doing housework, sometimes he tends to 'forget' how much work I do at home everyday when he is at work, that I too need a rest and go out for some fresh air when he suggests staying in on weekends. I do bring LO out by myself at times, but can't really relax or enjoy much (It's a lil inconvenient to carry so many things, plus I'm paranoid about our safety especially when I'm alone with her in the car park, that we are left wide open when I'm buckling her up in her car seat etc etc). He once said, "I'll be the maid on weekends so my wife can rest and do her own things", but I'm afraid he has never once did ALL the things that I have to do because I'm usually around to help with the washing up, taking care/feeding/entertaining our LO when he takes his own sweet time to bathe, join some waste-of-time management meetings downstairs, go for a car wash when the car isn't that dirty, buy food or cook. So today, I decided to let him have it: Pretend that I'm not there, just like when he is at work! But I did give him some 'discounts' though (Ah, I'm generous after all. Haha!).

The day started with him preparing cereals for LO's breakfast and then a simple scrambled egg + sausage and coffee for me (Aww...sweet!). After breakfast, I went on to do my own stuffs. I'm into natural home remedies for hair and skin lately, like people going crazy about organic and stuffs like that. Due to constantly changing hairstyles (Most women lurve doing that, right? :P), the chemicals took a toll on my hair. So I've decided it's time to try saving it by changing to natural treatments and coloring it with henna. As with all natural home remedies for hair and skin, they are safe but take quite some time to work. 

I've already premixed the henna mixture the night before. Just needed to apply, put on the shower cap and let it work its magic for a good 3-4 hours. I then went on to make pure apple juice for apple jellies. Wasn't satisfied with the outcome though. I'm gonna try it again using another type of apples and will post it when I'm happy with the results, so stay tuned for that. :D

My hubby was taking care of our LO the whole time; bathed, cooked and fed her. Our lunch was pre-bought. LO behaved quite well during lunch today and finished her food without much persuasion/coaxing/bribing/threatening. She was in this phase called 'I-don't-eat-rice/noodles/anything-that-looks-like-that', and then it went on to 'I-only-eat-fruits-and-drink-soups'. Blehhh. It's improving slowly but she still rejects certain food from time to time making mealtimes a pain >.<. Hubby said if it's like this everyday then it's good (He has seen how difficult she can be) and I simply answered, "Imagine how many times I feed her in a day, everyday." On top of that, she has been whining a lot lately (Terrible Two symptom, most likely), and guess what daddy did when she whined today? Let her watch LOTSA nursery rhymes on TV. Not a good thing but I just kept quiet and observed.

Then daddy saw a movie by his favorite actor on air and continued watching it happily. LO started whining and crying non stop. He went from being helpless and kept asking what she wants, to being irritated and complained she was being so noisy. I asked "Are you supposed to complain that she's noisy? She's hungry, it has passed her afternoon nap time and there you are watching TV happily and not keeping track of the time." Sure enough, she fell asleep straightaway after drinking her milk.

The excuse most men give: "Of course I know what he wants when he cries. He wants you." Right?

After that I went on to playing some online PC games - something I used to love doing but didn't have the time ever since our princess came along. Today I managed to indulge myself in it for nearly an hour, before giving my hair a good wash and got ready to go out for dinner. 

At the end of the day, I asked hubby how was it? He usually comes back from work with dinner prepared, do the dishes (My rule: if I cook, he has to wash, and vice versa), play with LO a bit and put her to sleep so that he can spend some time bonding with her. Today, he didn't need to cook our lunch and dinner, didn't need to do the dishes/washing up, didn't need to do the laundry/hang to dry/take them in/fold them coz that's been done and didn't need to prepare snacks (All these are the 'discounts' I mentioned earlier). Yet he was tired and complained few times that she's noisy and irritating. I said, "OK. So now you know what I'm dealing with everyday, on top of the other stuffs I have to do."

Image taken from www.pinterest.com. There are good days... And bad days...

And so, he agreed and said he appreciates what I do and is thankful for having me. It's because I'm good at what I'm doing that he can concentrate and strive in his work. Of course, I was thrilled and was secretly gloating inside after hearing that! I wasn't trying to prove what I do is much harder than his job because everyone has their own role to play and each role has its own challenges. But I feel that a SAHM shouldn't be underrated and expected to do ALL the work. We are humans too and need a break once a while, from the norm routine day in, day out. For those who like to take things for granted or pinpoint/judge what others  do, why not try trading for a day or even half a day? Perhaps you will then understand that it's not as easy as you think, learn not to take what we do lightly, be reminded to keep your 'unwanted' 2 cents to yourselves and learn to appreciate what we do more :)

Before ending this, I would like to share this emotional letter written by a husband to his wife who left him with the kids for 2 days.
http://www.hefty.co/letter-of-apology/?ref=fb