Go ahead! Ask a “non-working” woman what she does all day, she’ll tell you…just give her a minute.
If you give her a minute…
She’ll wake up, make some coffee, check the news and weather, respond to a few emails, call and change her dentist appt. to another day so she can babysit grandchildren, call and make a pedicure appt. before she takes an electric sander to her heels, bring a 2nd cup of coffee into the shower to save some time and give her husband a kiss as he heads to the office.
If you give her a minute…
Still naked from the shower, she’ll mop the bathroom floor with the towel she unwrapped from her head, throw the basket of towels into the wash, get dressed, strip the bed, put on clean sheets, hang the first load of wash to save some money, put a second load of laundry in the wash, and head to the kitchen.
If you give her a minute…
She’ll cut up the apples she got at a discount that sat on the kitchen counter for a day, throw them all in the oven to bake for applesauce, wipe up the spill on the front of the oven from last night’s supper, continue to wipe down all lower cabinets, bring the compost out to the garden to save space in landfills and when it’s nearly noon she’ll make a soft-boiled egg and toast to quiet her starving belly and pour a 3rd cup of coffee.
If you give her a minute…
While eating her late breakfast she’ll read the insurance renewal paperwork that came in the mail last week for both the auto and home and realizes she can queue up the payment via credit card online for later in the month, she’ll grab her laptop, push the dirty dishes out of the way, create an account, log in, set up the payment, then write a check for another bill that’s due as well.
If you give her a minute…
With her laptop open she’ll see 3 individuals asking her input on a group that is forming, confirmation that two Amazon orders are arriving the next day, respond to a long awaited email about a memorial donation she helped organize and remember she was supposed to ask someone about a meeting that may need to be changed.
If you give her a minute…
The dryer will stop tumbling so she’ll leave the laptop on the table to get the clothes out before they wrinkle, fold them and put them away then while upstairs get stationary out of the drawer in the guest room to write thank-you notes, pass her Art room and water the Christmas cactus, add a coat of paint to a canvas being repurposed, put a roll of toilet paper on the guest bath spool and head back to the kitchen.
If you give her a minute…
She’ll realize she didn’t plug in her laptop and the battery ran out so will move it into the other room to plug it in, sit down to write out and stamp the thank-you notes then see the candles that were tipping on the dining room table and take a different set of candlesticks out of the sideboard to hold the candles better, wash the dripped wax off the first set with a rag soaked in warm water and since the rag is already wet wipe down the chairs her grandchildren sat in while eating meatball grinders with sauce the night before.
If you give her a minute…
Putting the mail on the kitchen counter to go the post office the next day she’ll see the light on for the dishwasher, unload the dishwasher, smell the applesauce is done, process then freeze the applesauce, wash and dry the dishes used to make it, put them away and go downstairs to check on the Thanksgiving décor situation.
If you give her a minute…
While in the basement she’ll make note of the décor she has, sweep up a few dead spiders, box up and label the bare root geraniums she is attempting to overwinter until spring to save money, spot the can of porch, patio and floor paint she was going to use up before it dried out, pull out the last roller cover, paint a few areas of the basement floor that had peeled up during the last flood that came through, bring the paint can and roller cover out to the trash can and place the planter back where it belonged after her husband moved it while doing cement work on the patio.
If you give her a minute…
Getting to be late afternoon and knowing an egg and toast won’t cut it until supper she’ll mix up the almost expired yogurt with some granola and fruit, flip through a magazine that came in the mail, take out leftover cubed pork from the freezer, prep rice, put it all in a pot to simmer for supper, answer an email that popped in, rearrange Halloween decorations while dusting and feel her bad ankle starting to ache.
If you give her a minute…
She’ll brew 4 o’clock coffee, see the house is clean, supper is simmering, ice pack is calming her ankle and since you gave her a minute, that’s all she needs. She will sit, sip her coffee and thank the Lord there are only 1440 minutes in a day!