by Erin Medovich

Created on: July 15, 2009

The responsibilities of a stay at home mom or dad are endless and very rewarding. There are so many things to get done in a single day with your children underfoot. Yet each errand or task accomplished makes you feel like you have given a great gift to your family.

Some daily responsibilities are laundry, cooking, cleaning the house, bathing and grooming your children, making important bill-related phone calls, paying the bills, on-line banking, and running the household while your spouse is at work. This can also include taking messages for your spouse while they are away so that they can return phone calls in a timely and responsible manner.

There is mopping, vacuuming, sweeping, tending to the yard work, making sure that your children are watching educational material on television, reading and learning with your children, and making all your family's meals with clean up duty after.

Loving what you do is a major part of being able to live as a stay at home parent. You need to be able to give up those basic luxuries, like taking a shower first thing in the morning, coffee may have to wait until every child has been fed and clothed for the day, and walking your pets even comes before your own basic needs.

If you have small children that still take naps, it is easier to find some time to clean up yourself quickly and still manage some extra time to get a few more things done before those little ones are up and on the run again. Your phone calls and email will have to wait until later in the evening after your babies have gone to bed.

Taking the kids out to run errands can be fun and challenging at the same time. Without your spouse there, you are in charge of all of your children's needs and need to take responsibility for them if they start to get fussy in the middle of a shopping trip. However, when they are wonderful kids,reward them somehow, whether it be lunch out with mom or dad, or a fun movie to rent and take home.

Staying at home with your children builds an amazing bond with your babies and creates beautiful memories for you to share with your spouse. Keeping a photo album of your memories together will help you to look back on those times when you were able to stay home with them. This is something that is to be cherished for the rest of their lives. Your kids will grow up and thank you a million times over for being there for them and making sure that the house was kept up so they had less to worry about while their school work needed to be done.

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