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@Corduroy: I started working outside of the apartment earlier this year, in various cafes around town. It helped give some variety to my day, and also helped me get some exercise on the walks there and back!

Before that, I worked from home every day and constantly felt obligated to do the dishes and clean on my breaks. After I started working outside of the house, I started waking up earlier in the morning to do chores since I knew I'd be out of the house all day.

Good luck!!

We actually interact a lot! I do all of the childcare and housework though. But I bring the kids in for kisses all the time, and we eat lunch together and chat throughout the day. The major bummer is that he doesn't have set hours, so he can always work at times that he doesn't want to help me out, lol.

I'm a SAHM now and DH occasionally WAH for his job. We interact (eat lunch together, I bring DD in for kisses, etc). But I don't really expect him to do chores and such during the workday though even if he has a break. Because if he was at an office, he wouldn't have to spend his breaks doing chores.

My husband works from home four or five days a week. His office is the other side of our bedroom upstairs, so we don't have to be quiet. He's on the phone much of the day, so he really needs the quiet. It wouldn't work if we had to tiptoe around.

I SAH and DH WAH 1-2 days a week. It used to be every day, but now he has office space he tends to go there most days. Sometimes we eat lunch together but most of the time he does his own thing. I just try and pretend like he's not there. When I can, I try and keep LO quiet if it's a really important call he has to make, but otherwise I don't and I know DH can always go up to the attic room if it's too noisy. I used to like DH working from home when LO was a baby, because he could hold her from time to time or help out occasionally, but now I actually encourage him to go to the office every day because it's easier for us!

DH & I both WAH. I try to work when LO is napping but DH works like a normal full time job so we spend lots of time in separate spaces since he has so many Skype calls. His co-workers don't mind LO in the background every now and again. He watches her when I have meetings out of the house which is a few days a week. We both eat lunch together mostly every day though. I sort of like having time to myself sometimes for lunch to unwind so I'm sure your DH is thinking the same. Maybe you guys set certain days for eating together?

wow, I think I expect a lot more of dh than other people do! dh wah on a set schedule (8-5, with a lunch/gym break) and I wah part time and sah the other part of the time (I'm a grad student writing a dissertation, so right now my time is totally my own to set). he makes both of us lunch most days, except on days lo is home, we're usually out and about so grab lunch on the go. I do most of the organizing chores (ie getting lo dressed, putting things away, tidying up, etc) but he does more than half the dishes and most of the laundry (our laundry room isn't in our apt so I can't do it when I'm w lo) too. and, sometimes he helps with lo if my hands are full or she's refusing to nap (often, she'll fight nap with me but then fall asleep in less than 5 mins once dh steps in). we don't interact too much, but when we do we always try to check whether the other person is really busy that moment. like, I don't feel bad at ALL about interrupting his playing candy crush or reading baseball stats he has a lot of conference calls though so I never interrupt those. he's actually worse about interrupting me--his desk in our bedroom so he can close the door, but mine is next to the kitchen in our open concept living room and he "forgets"

DH works from home 2-3 days a week during the school year and at home all summer (he runs a law practice and teaches business law at a college). I am on a yearlong mat leave. DH and I interact a lot and he helps a lot. Our typical day at home is like this:

We all wake up together, DH gets DS and changes his diaper while I heat up DS' bottle and breakfast, I feed him while DH eats breakfast, and we both sip coffee DH set up before bed, so we are at the table together. DH then takes DS for a stroller walk and swinging at the park and loops home by 930am while I eat my breakfast and straighten up. DH showers and starts work at 10am and I put DS down for his morning nap. Before DS gets up I might nap too or zone out and then prep our lunches. DS is up an noon, DH gets DS again and repeat. We sit together while DH and DS eat and then DH plays with DS a little while I wolf down lunch. DH is back at work at 1pm and I play with DS or run errands until his afternoon nap. I usually straighten up some more, go run some more errands, and prep dinner during this nap. It's nice to be able to leave for a second knowing DH can grab the baby if something happens. DS is up at 430pm, DH gets him and I feed him dinner while DH goes back to work. DS has independent play time on the floor while I finish dinner and then we all sit down at the table around 530 or 6pm for dinner and DS eats puffs. DH does bath time and PJs and then I play with him some more while DH goes back to work and then I give him his last bottle and put him in his sleep sack at 730. DH will then put DS down for the night and then I relax while DH goes back to work! Around 9 or 10pm he will stop and then we both clean the kitchen and run/fold laundry before bed.

We have DH's schedule on Google Calendar and he typically has 2 days a week set aside for client calls from about 10am-3pm. So those days I try to keep DS quiet or out of the house. However those are also days when DH gets extra burned out because he's been yapping at clients all day so he usually wants an afternoon break. Those days we may go grocery shopping together or take DS to the splash pad together. On less structured days we might go to lunch together as a family and/or go to a baby gym for a little bit. We try to take our son out to lunch once or twice a week so he learns how to behave in a restaurant. During the day in general DH always says hi to DS and I can hand the baby to DH while I unload the car or wash my hands or something. DH works with his door closed and ear plugs on and I can hear if he's on a call so we don't bug each other.

Granted we are very lucky that DH runs his own business so he can set his hours but it balances out on his teaching days where DH may just be able to see DS in the morning on his way out the door. With a 90 minute commute each way those teaching days are long and DH is also getting his MBA so he's gone all day every other Saturday while I solo parent. So he works very hard to be present when he's home. I'm very, very grateful.

@Corduroy: I totally agree with @rosegold. If you're dealing with a permanent WAH/SAH situation, I think there's more of a need to establish routines and expectations like PPs have described. But having a newborn in the house and a mama just on maternity leave is a special situation, and I would expect my DH to be a bit more accommodating. (TBH, I think it's pretty damn amazing you're making your husband lunch with a 2 month old in tow!)

DH WAH while I was on a one year mat leave. He would come up mid morning for a break and to say hi, back up for lunch, and then at the end of the day. I would make lunch and we would eat together. He worked in a home office in the basement. I loved that if I needed an extra set of hands i just had to call down. He's WOH now and I will miss our old routine this upcoming mat leave!