What do stay-at-home moms do all day?

By Jane Han

So what do stay-at-home moms (SAHMs) do all day anyway?

This is probably one of the most hotly debated topics in the parenting world.

Some people may imagine a perfectly groomed mom in a pretty pink dress wearing a crisp white apron, pulling fresh baked cupcakes out of the oven in her spotless kitchen while gently smiling down at her also-perfect kids.

Others may picture a pajama-wearing sloppy woman sleeping in till 9 a.m., vegging out on the couch watching TV all day, letting her kids watch TV all day as well and eating junk food all day.

As a person who's currently living the life of a SAHM, I'd say I'm living a life that is neither.

My kitchen is rarely spotless, and sleeping in till anywhere remotely close to 9 a.m. never happened ― ever ― since my twins were born almost four years ago.

My day typically starts at 6:30 a.m.

That's when my husband leaves for work and also when the girls start waking up one by one.

My kids are the type of humans who must consume food as soon as they open their eyes in the morning.

Sometimes I get amazed at how they manage to stuff food into their little mouths with their eyes barely open.

So naturally, cooking breakfast is the first order of business for me.

Nothing fancy, but I like to switch things up by serving toast and jam, Korean rice cakes, sweet red-bean filled steamed buns and pancakes on different days of the week.

Right after breakfast, I get straight to work.

I begin cleaning the house. This happens daily. My house would resemble a warzone if I didn't.

I vacuum, mop, do the laundry and all that other housekeeping stuff for about 30 to 40 minutes.

This is when I usually check the time and get surprised every time that it's not even 9 a.m. yet.

Because my children are early risers, my day feels extra long ― super extra long.

By the way, we're talking about days when Ellen and Ann don't go to school, which is the majority of the week.

Because an entire day can easily feel mundane, I like to stick to a "one mommy-led activity per day" rule.

Again, nothing fancy, but a good 30 minutes to an hour every morning where we sit down and I try to introduce them to the Korean or English alphabet, do a small craft project or make fake food with Play-Doh.

Some people call me a good mom for doing this, but in fact, this is secretly for me.

By doing this, I feel less guilty about letting them watch TV soon after.

Lunch is usually served around 11:30 and I need time to prep so I let the kids engage in their first TV session of the day.

Finally some alone time for me.

When I say alone, I don't mean physically, literally alone since the girls are still only five small steps away, but at least they're not calling out for me every 10 seconds.

I quickly whip up an easy-to-serve lunch. It's much too early in the day to use up all my energy trying to get through lunch.

I usually stick to one-dish menus like rice with curry, ''bulgogi'' (beef marinated with sweet soy sauce) or fried rice.

After lunch is when my day's biggest dilemma hits.

Ellen and Ann have almost completely dropped their naps, but Lauren is still in that in-between stage where she'll get really cranky in the afternoon without a nap.

So I'm always contemplating whether to skip the nap altogether or not.

I tried both and I realized that neither is a winning situation for me. As long as even one child is up, mom can't let her guard down.

I figured it's actually best if all three kids are on the same schedule since they can at least go to bed at the same time at night.

Staying home all day with three high-energy preschoolers without a nap isn't something you want to do or want any loved one to do.

And so I leave home to the playground or the grocery store in the afternoon to burn off all that energy packed into my little girls.

A solid two to three hours outside of the house feels so refreshing for all of us.

We return home and it's already time for dinner.

I get something going on the stovetop and throw the girls in the tub for a bath.

Bathing three girls usually serves as my workout of the day.

They come out nice and clean and sit on the sofa for their second and final TV session of the day.

This time, just a short 30-minute program before I get my turn to catch up on Korean news.

Dad walks through the door around 6:30 p.m. on my lucky days and dinner is served right away.

I'm strict about not giving snacks before dinner so the kids are typically starved, making dinnertime a breeze.

My husband and I clean up like a professional cleaning squad. The kitchen is clean in 15 minutes flat.

The kids get to spend some quality time with dad by getting ready for bed together and reading for 30 minutes, also known as my favorite time of the day. I get to just lie down and relax.

By 8 p.m., the girls are usually asleep.

You see why I don't complain about forgoing their nap?

I always have big plans to watch TV, get some work done or do something ― anything ― after the girls go to sleep, but sadly, I wake up in the middle of the night only to realize that I've exhaustedly drifted off to sleep right next to one of the girls yet again.

So yes, who says the life of a SAHM is easy?