The other day we were doing projects and picking up the house and homeschooling on our main level but accidentally left the TV on in the family room downstairs. Around noon, as I’m making lunch (canned ravioli since Aron wasn’t coming home), I heard the Days of Our Lives theme music coming from downstairs and I laughed.
I love the stereotype of the housewife sitting around watching her soap operas all day, or at least while the kids have a nap or quiet time or are at school.
When my first child was a baby, I got out of the house plenty, but I also sat on my butt nursing and holding my sleeping baby for many hours each day. I watched a lot of TV, read a lot of books and relaxed. I had zero desire to lay Joel down so I could get stuff done. I just held him all the time because I was 30 when I had him and was SOOOO ready to have kids.
My days are a little different from that these days. “Quiet time” is when the baby takes a nap on me. The other kids might watch TV while I read or journal or make a phone call. Sometimes they have a friend over or are playing outside, and I get to watch some of the shows Mom has taped for me (like Rescue Me, Celebrity Apprentice, Grey’s Anatomy, Brothers & Sisters). The less the baby naps, the less TV I watch and the books sit untouched, also.
I have a friend who watches Young and the Restless with her husband (a big, strong father of 5 boys) after the kids go to bed … isn’t that cute?! I love knowing cool stuff like that about marriages.
