Anyone wanna SWAP?

This morning my husband had a sip of my cup of tea. This prompted our 4 yr old daughter to inform her father that he cannot share my cup because he would turn into me! HA "I wish" I replied followed by a "Bring it on" from my husband.

Of course the kids quickly asked why would we want to swap? Well obviously so we could prove that each had it tougher than the other!

It got me thinking, who does have it tougher in our house...is it my husband who wakes at 5am, leaves by 5.30, drives for 2 hrs to work, works all day, drives 2hrs home, then works again on his laptop for another couple of hours?

Or is it me, who wakes up at 5am to see him off followed by all the things a mum and mumpreneur does each day?

The kids were more than willing to give their view on what each of us would do if we swapped and of course this is what they see:

"MUM, if you become Dad, you have to leave really early, drive very far, talk on the phone all day and then come home and be VERY VERY tired!... Oh and you would have to drive Dads work car".....IMAGINE THAT!

Ha "too easy" I said, "Imagine being able to wake up, just get yourself ready, talk to adults all day, eat lunch on time and then come home to dinner on the table!"
Sip some more my love.....

Hmmm but then came their description to Dad of a day in the life of Mum...

"DAD, if you became Mum, you have to get breakfast, make beds, make lunches, wash up, iron uniforms, vacuum, hang washing, bake afternoon tea, play with us" and...wait for it "BE ON THE COMPUTER ALL DAY!"

Oh no, with all I do every day (and they did a pretty good job of describing) the part emphasised the most was BE ON THE COMPUTER ALL DAY!

Of course I do use my laptop alot each day but I would certainly not say I was on it ALL day, yet in my daughters eyes it didn't matter. What stands out in her mind is that quite often when she asks me something or wants me to play, I can be found on my laptop....even if it was literally for one minute to reply to an email.

In fact as I write this, my daughter is asking me to come out the back and find things to shade (remember that? when you got leaves or coins and placed paper over it to shade over in lead pencil...love the simple things!)but because I am IN THE ZONE :) of writing (and when Stacey's in her zone...leave her alone!), I tell her to hang on a minute....her reply "You always say that and you take LONG!"

So whilst I could write soooo much more on this, I will leave you now on this note...

If perception is reality, perhaps as parents we need to ask ourselves a little more often how our kiddies are PERCEIVING what is going on in our homes? Time on the computer, adult discussions, responses to them that do nothing but reinforce your not REALLY listening....guilty as charged of all of the above :(

I know this mornings conversation has reminded me that we can all fall off the wagon and my routine once again needs tweaking.

Even though I know I am NOT on the laptop ALL DAY, in the eyes of my 4 yr old....it may as well be glued to my fingers and I don't want to wake up to discover that she is suddenly 14 and surgically attached to hers, with no time for her Mum!

I am off to do some shading :) why not share with us whats happening in your home that needs tweaking...chances are we are all experiencing the same thing!

PS I sooooo don't want to swap with my husband, I just let him THINK I do ;)