Wife Swap & Trading Spouses

[staceyy]

I enjoy watching the tv programs Wife Swap & Trading Spouses. I like to look into the lives and lifestyles of other people. My sister and I were discussing the programs the other night and wondered what people would think of our lifestyles.

I'm sure they would think my life is wierd as dh and I don't get to see each other too often as we both travel for our jobs. He is a long distance truck driver and I am a mortgage banker that has to board a plane everytime I go to work. I used to be away from home for three weeks at a time and then home for 4 days. Now I work part-time and am maybe out of town 2 days per week. When I'm home I rarely go out as I don't drive and live in the suburbs. Dh and I do talk on the phone several times a day even if we can't see each other, and I talk to my daughter several times a day also.

Things that would be observed in my household would be my hobbies, I love to read and have tons of books. I love to bake so I have tons of cookbooks. I love interior design so I would hope they would find my home to be pleasing, neat and fairly clean. Just don't look in my cuboards--they're a mess! I love to invent and craft so some of my finished projects would be apparent.

Next to my bed would be my prayer basket containing several Bibles and spiritual literature. My kitchen dishrack would alert someone to my frugality as there would most likely be aluminum foil and plastic bags drying. And my freezer and pantry house my stockpile. Look in my dining room buffet and there would be lots of coupons and sale flyers awaiting my next trip to the grocery store.

But even though I'm frugal, most people would think a large 4 bedroom home was too big for 2 people who are rarely home, and they would observe I do have cable.

On one of the tv programs, I can't remember which, the woman has to leave a book that describes the running of her household. Mine would state I typically get up at 8:00 make my bed, adjust the temperature, open the blinds, finish loading the dishwasher turn it on and put in a load of clothes. At 10:00 am I usuallly will watch Dr Phil while I am on the internet. Breakfast varies it could be bacon and eggs, waffles, cereal or muffins. Most of the food eaten in my home is made from scratch.

Next I might put something in the crockpot for dinner and several days a week I will bake most likely some sort of pie, cookies, cake, or quick breads. Once in a while I'll use my bread maker to make bread. I eat a lot of wholewheat and whole grain products and we take a lot of vitamins and supplements as dh works for a health food store.

Each day I clean a different portion of the house and have no set schedule as to which part. I see my extended family about once a week and usually serve them something I just baked. The rest of my time is spent watching food tv or attending to one or more of my hobbies or interests.

When I work, I generally will call a cab to take me to the airport and head off to a new city which could be anywhere in the US. Sometimes I'm in two different cities in a week and then return home. I've gone from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles, to Florida and back to Pittsburgh within 4 days, which can get to be very tiring so I try to avoid trips like that if I can.

Once I arrive at my destination, I generally will take a cab to the hotel and get ready for the next day. My co-workers will most likely be staying at the same hotel so we'll meet up and go in to work together.

So thats a picture of my life. I'm curious as to how you live and would love for you to describe your life and a typical day in it.

Stacey

[Pepper]

Dh and I occassionally catch those shows! We enjoy them and both agree that they would never choose us as a family. Mainly because we are BORING!!

Typical Day:

7:00 am

Alarm goes off. I push snooze for about an hour.

8:00 am

Dh gets home from working a 12 hr shift.

9:00 am

Dh gets settled into bed

10:00 am

I am normally making another pot of coffee. The television is turned on for background noise. My blinds are opened. All dishes acquired since last night's dishwashing will get washed. The kitchen swept. Living room floor vaccumed.

12:00 pm

Make something for lunch. Take something out of freezer to thaw for supper the next night. Play on computer. Work on crocheting. Read. Do some writing. Laundry if it needs done. Will go outside for fresh air.

4:00 pm

I wake dh up. Get his work clothes and give to him. Have a glass of sweet tea waiting on his end table beside his recliner.

4:30 pm

Start fixing supper. We eat supper. I wash dishes.

5:30 pm

I fix dh lunch for work. We will sit around and talk about how work went the night before. And anything else that needs talking about.

6:30 pm

Dh leaves for work. I will make our bed. Pick up the bedroom. Television is still going for the background noise. If something I want to watch is on, I will watch it. Otherwise I am cleaning something or online.

8:30 pm

Talk to my sister, this is a nightly ritual.

9:30 pm

Go around close blinds. Pick up anything that is out of place.
Online some more. Crocheting more. Reading or writing.

12:00 am - 1:00 am

Go to bed

We repeat this process 6 days of the week. On dh's day off, we try to go to the library and the park. We go and see my sis. We normally find our way to wally world as well.


Gosh, we have extremely boring lives.......but I love it

[guest32]

Quite frankly, those shows creep me out! Dh and I flipped though one one night and we both were offended. Call me a prude....but I'm not sharing my home with any other man, and I guarantee you dh doesn't want to swap either! ICK!!! Besides, we are pretty boring.....and I have friends whose spouses I can hardly stand because of the way they treat them. I just don't understand what is entertaining about this. JMHO

[staceyy]

I find what is interesting about the shows is not that I would necessarily trade places, but I can watch other people trade places. Granted, they always select people who are extremes so the lessons are more pronounced. You may find your life to be boring but someone else might not. You might live in the city, the suburbs or the country. You might live near the beach or the mountains. You might have a close knit family. You might be heavy into charitable works or you might live a peaceful, simple life. You might have children and someone watching might want children but not be able to have any. No matter what there is probably someone who would like to have a life like yours or aspects of it. I find there to be great lessons in the show, things I should do, and things I should be careful not to do.

When giving a synopsis of your life please state what type of setting you live in city, rural, suburb etc. and do you live in an apartment or a house, how many children do you have , do you homeschool etc.

[guest7]

Pepper!
LOL!!

[Pepper]

frugalfanny--I try telling people how boring my life is and they just don't get it. They say oh surely you do more than that. Wanna bet?

Dh is a workaholic and I am a hermit

[Vannie]

What an interesting topic.

I have not seen many episodes of either show because I am not a true TV person, except for the morning and evening news. So, whatever is on television at the moment I will 'sort of' watch. While I find Wife Swap, Trading Spouses very odd, loud and part of the new "extreme" television cycle that I do not like; the shows do hold my attention. The main reason is that those who choose the families seem to work by the "opposites attract" theory, the families they pick are like night and day. They do attract a large television audience. That is the whole idea, huh? I have noticed that each family does seem to come away with something positive though.

It's interesting that the two member profiles here are so very different also. I'm sure we all are

Why no profile? I have to think about this--I don't have a real schedule.

[homesteadmamma]

Originally posted by mermaid59
Quite frankly, those shows creep me out! Dh and I flipped though one one night and we both were offended. Call me a prude....but I'm not sharing my home with any other man, and I guarantee you dh doesn't want to swap either! ICK!!! Besides, we are pretty boring.....and I have friends whose spouses I can hardly stand because of the way they treat them. I just don't understand what is entertaining about this. JMHO

I have to agree with you on this one. I watched it once at my oldest dd's and that was enough for me.

[KimSecret]

We are a family of 4: Dh, works for his parents a/c & heat business. Myself, a SAHM & wife, Dd age 12 and Ds age 10.5. We live just out of the city limits (small town) in a nice subdivision w/mostly retired people, on the lake.
I wake up between 6:30-6:45 am.
Wake the kids, make coffee,school lunches and feed kids.
Leave to take kids to school at 7:30am.
Dh leaves for work any time between 6:30 and 7:30am.
I usually have 1 more cup of of coffee after taking kids to school, start sweeping, washing laundry, making beds,etc.
I dont have breakfast,so I usually have an early lunch between 10-10:30am. and eat while surfing the web.
I'll do more laundry and any other house chores and then get back onto the computer.
I plan whats for dinner and get the kids from school at 3:00pm, but if it's Tues. or Thur, I wont pick them up from school til 4:30 (they have tutoring on these days) and I'll usually already have dinner ready for them on these days.
Kids will have a snack, do homework, and have some play time (usually ride their bikes or go for a walk.) This is also the time my phone starts to ring off the wall with my Dd's friends calling
At 5:30 I have the kids come inside and get ready for dinner. After dinner, they watch a little TV or play and by 6-6:30pm I have them start a shower and lay their clothing out for the next morning. They do this while I clean the kitchen, do more laundry and get things ready for in the morning.
Dh comes home any time between 6pm and 12 midnight (depending on what he has to do.) I will leave him a plate of food or he will get something on the road.
At 8pm I have kids brush their teeth and have them in the bed between 8:30-9pm.
After kids are in bed, I sit and have a cold drink, flip through the channels on TV, and then take my shower.
I'm usually in bed asleep between 10-11pm.
Dh has poker night on Thurs so sometimes I'll order pizza for the kids and I and we'll chat a/b the day or watch some TV. I dont usually let the kids go out to play on Tues & Thurs after tutoring b/c its nearly dark by the time we get home. Dh usually gets home between 12-1am on Thur nights. (Im already asleep.)
On weekends, Dh is usually gone ishing, hunting, out w/friends etc. so the kids and I sleep in, they will play outside or we will go do shopping.
I also love to do scrapbooking, papercrafts,read and play online during the weekends or while the kids are at school (after my housework is done.) I will often times, be found talking on the phone w/my best friend who lives in Arkansas...we'll talk for an hour or more sometimes.
On some Fridays or Saturday nights, after dinner and a shower, the kids will go next door to Miss Judy's house (after her Dh goes off to work) and they will eat popcorn,play games or watch movies and I will usually get online or craft.

[staceyy]

Pepper, I don't find your life to be boring. There are lots of over-worked, stressed out women in the workforce who would love to trade places with you; and lots of single women who would kill to be married and living your kind of life.

Kim, I'm always reading about women with children who long to be stay at home moms and it sounds like you have a good rapport with your kids. I find it appealing that you live on a lake and have a hubby who hunts and fishes. I bet that cuts down on your grocery bill.

[KimSecret]

Yes Staceyy, My Dh gets bass, crappie and deer meat. Im not a big eater of these, but my Dh and kids love them.
We are also able to share these things with neighbors and they usually share whats in their garden, with us...very good trades!
He's (DH) is actually on another hunt this weekend in south Tx. I forget what animal it is that he's hunting, but they say its even tastier than Deer meat

I love this thread...getting to know you all is so interesting and fun!

[Pepper]

Thanks Staceyy I'm sure there are those who would rather be in my shoes.

I also am enjoying reading this thread and getting to know more about what "a day in your life" is like!!

[tbs727]

I also find these shows interesting, although I've probably only actually seen about 5 episodes. DH and I talk about things that we like and dislike about the families.

My life is pretty boring. Except for work, we pretty much do what we want. A lot of people would be put off by the amount of animals we have. Three dogs and two cats, they all come in the house. We do a lot of dusting a vacuuming.

I usually get up about 7:15. I feed the animals, let them out and put on the kettle for a cup of tea. I hang the laundry that I washed the night before. I also walk around and tidy the house, and make the bed. I Have certain house cleaning chores that I do on certain days. (i.e tomorrow I wash the sheets and dust, Thursdays I go grocery shopping, etc.) If I have extra time, I sit and watch Good Morning America.
7:45 I get in the shower and get ready for work.
8:40 I get my lunch together, let the dogs out again, and gather my things to go to work.
9:00-3:00 work
3:20 arrive home and finish any chores. Sometimes I use this time to clean out a closet or drawer. (or my favorite past time, rearranging furniture.) This is my "me" time. I work on projects, do my shopping, whatever I need to do.
5:00 start dinner
6:00 clean up after dinner dishes.
6:30 Time to relax with DH. We do whatever we want. Normally we hang around the house. We have bible study on some nights.
8:00 lay out clothes and plan for tomorrow.
10:00-11:00 I go to bed.

Weekends are more of the same. We sometimes go out for a drink or dinner with friends. Sometimes we visit with family. We've been so busy with adoption stuff lately that I don't really remember what it's like to have a free weekend. I like to clean and organize on weekends, and catch up with laundry. Sunday's we have church. I sing with the worship band so we get there at 8:30 for practice and church starts at 10:00. After the service we have lunch with friends. This is some of our best visiting time. Occasionally we will get together at one of our houses and talk or play games. Sunday evenings are quiet for me as I like to prepare my mind for the week.

This is a good thread. However, I just realized how boring my life is.

[staceyy]

I don't get it! Why does everyone think their life is so boring! No ones life is boring ,as long as you're alive your life is unfolding like an interesting movie, and you never know what is around the next corner. Sometimes its a good surprise, sometimes bad and sometimes things just coast along for awhile.But its never boring, because every little move you make alters the universe in some way.Tiffany, I think its interesting that you can find time for bible study and church as millions of people don't make this a priority. I get the sense that you are very loving and surround yourself with God, pets, and are even going out of your way to share your love with an adopted child. This child is not coming into a boring life but one that is filled with love and excitement.

[britbunny]

Originally posted by staceyy
I don't get it! Why does everyone think their life is so boring! No ones life is boring ,as long as you're alive your life is unfolding like an interesting movie, and you never know what is around the next corner.

I couldn't agree more!

I always say this to DH when he frets that I think I might be missing my old lifestyle. When we first met I had a really busy, hectic social life etc. I rarely had a night in and on the rare occasion I did have a night in it was like gold.

If you're happy then it doesn't matter if you're not skydiving or eating at a posh restaurant every day of the week. There's nowt wrong with enjoying what you do even if you do "nothing".

Sorry, venturing OT there!