PERCEPTION: You enjoy a lie-in every single morning.
REALITY: Ha! Hahahaha! Lie-in? As in, actual sleep in an actual bed? You so crazy.
PERCEPTION: You eat a leisurely breakfast with your little ones.
REALITY: Does trying to convince a screaming baby to eat porridge count as leisurely? Or picking food out of my hair? Totally never realised that before, my bad.
PERCEPTION: You binge-watch all your favourite TV shows.
REALITY: I wish. It’s just Frozen, guys. Blaring out on repeat. Every single damn day.
PERCEPTION: You sit around all day with your feet up, don’t you?
REALITY: Sitting? What is this sitting you speak of?
PERCEPTION: Your home must be spotless - after all, you have all day to clean it.
REALITY: Do I look like Wonder Woman? Cleaning a house - with a toddler in tow - is basically impossible. All I ever have time to do is the sink, the toilet, and as much of the laundry as possible. The rest of the time I spend hiding mess from visibility when guests visit.
PERCEPTION: You spend most of your lunchtimes having coffees and power walking sessions with your yummy mummy friends.
REALITY: I’m not made of money, you know. The majority of the time I’m gobbling up beans and fish fingers with my kid at home, because it’s cheap. So yeah, sometimes I get a bit lonely.
PERCEPTION: You spend your whole day judging working mums, don’t you?
REALITY: Like I have time to be so shady. Did you not hear me mention I have a toddler? Those things need to be, like, PERMANENTLY entertained.
PERCEPTION: You have so much free time - bet you get to the sales before everyone else does, right?
REALITY: Free time? As in, time to my actual self? I don’t go anywhere without a child. I go to the supermarket with a child, I go to the shower with a child watching me, and don’t even ask me the last time I went to the bathroom without an audience, okay?
PERCEPTION: You must feel so well-rested.
REALITY: Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!! Only not really, because I feel like my eyelids are being propped up with cocktail sticks right now.
PERCEPTION: You must be so bored.
REALITY: There’s no time to be bored, people! From dance parties, to baking, to park play, to building forts, to all those other adventures, spending time with my kids is anything but boring.
PERCEPTION: Do you live in your dressing gown?
REALITY: Not always, man. Not always. SOMETIMES, fine - but not always.
PERCEPTION: You’re so lucky that you get to spend all that time with them.
REALITY: I really am, aren’t I?
What do you think are the most common misconceptions about stay-at-home mums? Let us know via the comments box below now!