I've learned a lot since I've been home

I am so not a natural homemaker! Sometimes I think my family and I would be better of if I had a day job, and my kids went to a nice daycare. I love my kids, and I love being home with them, but homemaking is just not my niche.

For those of you who are not natural homemakers, here are a few things I have learned; maybe you will learn something too!

1. The "high pile" setting on the vacuum cleaner does not mean the brushes scrub the carpet harder. It means the brushes go up higher, to account for the high carpet. Who'd a thunk? That explains why when I change the setting and vacuum I don't pick up much, but when my husband vacuums and moves the setting to "low" carpet he picks up lots of pet hair! Hmph.
2. The toilet paper dissapears much, much faster when you are home all day with a potty training little boy.
3. You should get yourself ready to leave the house as soon as you get up, because you might run out of time later in the day. Yes, even though you are home all day, time still runs out. I'm still struggling with this!
4. If you have kids, the majority of your day will be spent following them around, picking up their toys.
5. Books on cd are a godsend, beecause there's no telling when you will be able to sit down with a book again! Atleast at work I used to get a 15 minute break to catch up on some reading!
6. Your job doesn't end at 5. Or 10. Or midnight.
7. 3 a.m. is almost the same as 7 a.m. (to a 2 year old). We often have 3 a.m. "playdates".
8. A kitchen timer is great to use as a reminder to drink water.
9. Just because you vacuumed yesterday doesn't mean the carpet is going to stay clean today.
10. Sometimes it's just easier to let your toddler "help". Mine likes to do dishes. And vacuum. Takes me twice as long (at least) but the whining and crying stops.

What kind of surprises have you learned as a homemaker, or parent?