"What do you DO all day?"

Quoted from a dear friend's blog:

“What do you do all day?”

That’s my sister’s favorite new question now that she’s transitioned out of work and is home full time with her 1-year-old daughter. In some ways it is a naïve and offensive thing to ask, but in other ways, when those of us who are at home dare to let our guard down a little, it can be a very valid question."

I have been asked this question many times by working Moms, new Stay-at-home Moms, and many days... I ask myself the same thing. Where did the time go? What did Jack learn today? I wonder what they are teaching at preschool today? Is Jack missing out, or is he right where God wants him? When I look back and realize he's already FOUR, it's easy to forget how we spent many of our days at home. I decided to post some of the more mundane moments for Jack to remember what we did on plain old ordinary weekdays.



We made pizza at the house last week. He loved the activity much more than the pizza itself. So did we. I think by the time it was ready he was already full from the cold meat and cheese he ate throughout the prep process. I know that feeling from when I cook.

We met Ms. Laura at the Boerne Lake to feed the ducks with Grant and Jake. Those ducks were feisty and it took one duck bite for Jack to refuse to stand on the ground. He hopped up onto the park bench and pitched bread from up high for the rest of our visit. Jake was the only kiddo to avoid a ducky bite. I guess we could attribute that to the fact that he carried around the bread still sealed up in the bag. After feeding the ducks, we headed to the playground, to lunch, then to play at Laura's house. It was a fun-filled afternoon in my old hometown.



Jack is at SUCH a great age. I know, I say that about every age. It is so much fun to play games with him now because he totally gets taking turns, and is no longer a sore loser. Here we are playing a new favorite game, "Guess Who?" It's actually pretty complex for him, but is one of the more fun options for Mommy and Daddy. Of course I like it because it really makes him think. Jeff likes it because there are no small parts to keep up with.



He is also neat and clean enough to leave unattended with messy crafts for long periods of time... like to bathe or nurse a little bro. He is careful with water colors, responsible with stickers and markers and hates being dirty as much as his Mom hates for him to be dirty. This makes life with crafts much more enjoyable. We are still working on not mixing different colors of Play-Doh, but believe it or not, I let that one go. Here is an 18" x 24" poster he asked to make for Alli Jean for her bedroom wall. It is covered with construction worker stickers and he wrote, "To: Alli Jean, Love: Jack" (You're welcome, Julie!)

Jack begged me to change his room to a Star Wars room after seeing one commercial about Star Wars. After some pleading, I suggested we make some Star Wars wallpaper for the walls. HIS plan was to cover every inch of his walls with his handmade wallpaper. So, I rolled out some butcher paper, Star Wars stickers, markers, crayons, and water colors and he created this masterpiece over three long sittings one week. Needless to say, when I started to roll out another 4-foot sheet to make the next piece he informed me that he had changed his mind and "didn't want a Star Wars room so much anymore." Shocker.



Jack loves puzzles, and the new challenge is to make him complete them without looking at the picture on the box lid. Here is a fave - a puzzle his cousin Hope made for him. What a sweet gift, and of course he just loves anything with his name on it.



Another favorite activity for Jack is cutting coupons. It's great practice using the scissors to cut along straight lines, and keeps him busy FOREVER. However, he is much more entertained when he cuts out the comics. He calls them "shows." He'll say, "Look Momma, I cut out all the nice shows into squares and cut up all the mean shows into itty bitty pieces!" Yeah, it cracked me up too, but I still made him do the sweeping that inevitably follows any cutting activity. Yes, he has his own broom and dustpan. He also only cuts at the kitchen table now. I let him "cut coupons" sitting on the kitchen floor once and he cut the crotch out of the Batman costume he happened to be wearing that morning. Close call. He also likes to hold his brother every day when he gets up from his nap... for about three minutes.

It's amazing that I only have eight more precious months at home with Jack. In August, he begins his nine to five. He has the REST OF HIS LIFE to join the daily grind. It starts when we drop him off for his first day of Kindergarten, and doesn't end until he retires. For now, he can get up when his body wakes him, not to an alarm clock. He can stay up late for one more round of Go Fish because he doesn't have a bus to catch. He can stay in his pajamas until his afternoon nap (as evidenced by many of these photos.) I am so blessed to have had these early years home with him. It makes every bit of the sacrifice so worth it.