A Mom's Life

Hello everyone!! I recently read a friend's blog post who wrote about how she'd been so busy living life that she hasn't had time to write about it. I can relate! Despite my best efforts to slow down, enjoy life, and enjoy these sweet toddler/young childhood years, it feels like the harder I try to catch up and do that, the more that needs to be done. I often feel like I'm on a hamster wheel, staying up until 2 a.m. night after night, running as fast as I can to get everything finished only to fall farther and farther behind. When Christa was a toddler, I wrote a post detailing what a typical day looked like for us. I thought it would be fun to do that again, now that I have 3 kids. Much of this post will seem mundane, but let me assure you, my life is anything but mundane! Every day is a little different, but here is what your life would look like if you were me for a day!

2:00 a.m. - collapse in bed, knowing that if you stay up any longer, you will get even less than the minimal amount of sleep you've already limited yourself to!

6:30 a.m. - hit Snooze on the alarm for the first of many times, wondering why you thought you were going to be able to wake up early to "get stuff done," when you went to bed at 2 a.m. because you were "getting stuff done."

7:00 a.m. - well, maybe 7:15 a.m.... on a good morning.... roll out of bed, knowing that if you sleep any longer, there will be no way to get everyone out the door anywhere in the neighborhood of "on time." you're pushing it as it is. brush teeth, wash face, put in contacts, read bible, and begin the day in prayer.

7:30 ish - shower if you didn't the night before, and attempt to finish getting yourself ready for the day. get distracted by the laundry will need to be re-washed if you don't move it *now,* and the toy you need to find for Christa's show-and-tell day.

8:00 a.m. - wake up 2 oldest little people in the house, and feed them breakfast of cheerios and milk. get cup of "ice cold water" for precocious 4 year old, and "regular" (a.k.a. - "not ice cold" or "room temperature") water for recently-potty-trained-two-year-old. take 2-year-old to potty, and turn on Disney Junior. attempt to put on makeup, vowing to blow-dry hair in a few minutes. remember 3 things to add to to-do list, and jot them down. call and schedule some sort of appointment/car repair/dinner, etc.

8:40 a.m. - realize you have to be out the door in 5 minutes, and 1/3 children is still asleep, 1/3 children is only half dressed, and 1/3 children just spilled cheerios all over herself. the day's off to a good start! threaten oldest child with some sort of consequence if she doesn't get her clothes on "right now." watch her move at a snail's pace - you're used to this by now. remove 2 year old from cheerio mess on floor, (hope hubby cleans that up later), and supervise her dressing herself. pack diaper bag, feeding bag, school back packs, and realize your own hair will not be blow dried or styled today. also notice your makeup is half on. grab pony tail holder. you look awesome and together!

8:45 a.m. - wake up sleeping infant, knowing you're supposed to be pulling out of the driveway at this point. quickly put some clothes on her. realize you've only brushed 1/3 childrens' teeth. hope they all inherited your awesome, cavity-less dentition, and grab hair brush to brush 4 year old's hair. be thankful 2 year old does not have enough hair to brush because you don't have time. quickly wet infant's hair (because it's recently developed the cutest curls ever, and you want to bring them out)!

9:00 a.m. - buckle 3 kids into car seats, while mentally cursing the American Academy of Pediatrics for their unreasonable and inconvenient car seat safety recommendations. reluctantly follow them anyway, since you do, in fact, care about the safety of your children (and suffer from major guilt issues based on what all the other moms out there are doing, even if you secretly wish you were back in the 80s when your 4 year old would barely be in a seat belt by now). recognize you won't have time stop for that fountain coke you were hoping for, and drop mortgage payment into mail box.

9:07 a.m. - stop at Bojangle's for that fountain coke, because you didn't grab a granola bar and water on your way out, and you simply can't continue your day without your coke. it's your version of coffee.

9:10 a.m. - pretend to be "Mother Gothel" from Rapunzel while driving your kids to school, since that is their latest favorite game. tell Abby Kate again that she "can't go see the lanterns." (you're in character - not actually being mean to your child).

9:17 a.m. - hurriedly pull up to drop-off line at kid's school, silently praying that the teachers are still out there to collect your children. otherwise, you'll be walking up 3 flights of stairs with all 3 of them. breathe huge sigh of relief when you see the friendly faces, and vow to be earlier tomorrow. tell 2 oldest kids you love them, and drive next door. wonder how on earth you are going to eventually get everyone to school by 8:15 a.m. when they're in "real" school. make mental note to research homeschooling later.

9:25 a.m. - drop infant off in church nursery and head to bible study/MOPS/ or whatever the day's activity is. take a moment to check e-mail and update My Fitness Pal (since you're calorie counting, and it's working, after 4 years of looking like you've just had a baby)! greet friends, and participate in the lesson.

11:30 a.m. - call husband (who is now awake and should have had plenty of time to work out, run, shower, and await your instructions) and make lunch plans. pick up infant, and go to local deli. enjoy lunch with hubby while infant snacks on crackers, milk, and any other sort of table food you can get into her.

1:00 p.m. - pick up older girls from school. drop off dry cleaning on your way home. mentally add 3 things to your to-do list. remember you forgot to stop by the ATM.

1:30 p.m. - unload kids, put infant down for nap, and squeeze in a quick walk before hubby goes to work. wonder when his next day off is, and realize it's next week. sigh.

2:30 p.m. - listen to two older kids playing sweetly in their rooms together. reluctantly put middle child down for a nap to prevent dinner-time-meltdown.

3:00 p.m. - 2/3 kids are now napping, and 1/3 kids no longer naps. check 2 quick things off to-do list, and text message 3 people with "urgent" information regarding plans or ideas about something they mentioned earlier. briefly consider folding laundry, and drop that idea to pay bills. 30 seconds into the bill-paying attempt, give up and work puzzle or go outside with 4 year old.

5:00 p.m. - start thinking about dinner, and call parents to see what their plans are. briefly check e-mail and Facebook, and realize you have multiple e-mails and messages that are overdue for a response from you. vow to actually reply to them "later."

5:30 p.m. - get everyone up from naps. gently bump heads with infant multiple times as you are carrying her down the stairs - it's her favorite game! change and dress littlest two. clean up tee-tee off the floor and change newly-potty-trained-2-year-old's panties. jot down 4 more things on the to-do list, and realize you're almost out of milk.

6:00 p.m. - feed children dinner, and deliver fresh meal to working husband.

7:30 p.m. - quickly bathe kids and put infant down to sleep. begin bedtime routine with older girls. brush everyone's teeth, and let girls pick out things to sleep in. (4 year old will choose whatever dress she is currently wearing, and 2 year old will opt for a swimsuit or Rapunzel costume). review sight words with 4 year old. you will be tempted to rush through bed time to get to "me time," but you will actively remind yourself that your kids will not be little forever, and you will read them an extra bible story and sing silly songs for a few minutes. it will begin as a sheer act of will, and end with giggling and hugs and kisses.

9:00 p.m. - after books, prayer, calling Daddy, telling stories, and snuggling, everyone is finally in bed! unwind with a little Facebook.

11:00 p.m. - has it really been 2 hours?? this is why you don't do Pinterest! couldn't handle another time warp, and you already have hundreds of great ideas that you feel guilty about not doing. go downstairs, and tackle wreck of a house. do dishes and put away toys. collect 8,000 children's shoes and dump them into shoe basket. wonder why you have so much stuff, and toss a couple of things into giveaway pile. locate several toys that have (apparently) been rescued from giveaway pile. add 2 things to tomorrow's to-do list, and remember you still haven't written thank you notes for child's recent birthday. vow to update blog and download pictures to Shutterfly tomorrow. vow to never check Facebook again.

1:00 a.m. - wonder how you're ever going find time and energy to fold the laundry, and add 5th clean load to overflowing pile. collect newly-potty-trained-child's dirty clothes and stain treat dried baby food off of infant's outfits. call working husband and ask about plans for following day. hear infant cry out and give her a bottle.

2:00 a.m. - wonder what you did all day?? you are exhausted, and have no recollection of taking your kids outside, playing barbies with them, or doing any sort of art project. your house is only orderly because you stayed up until 2 a.m., but your to-do list is longer than ever, and the laundry is overflowing, and the bills are seriously going to be late if you don't find time to pay them tomorrow. wonder how other moms balance all of these things while hand-making their kids' clothes, pureeing their own baby food, and teaching their 3 year olds how to read. vow to make your kids eat more fruits and vegetables tomorrow. realize you literally spent ALL DAY LONG cleaning up messes, changing diapers, disinfecting multiple surfaces from poop and pee germs, washing your hands, your kids' hands, your kids' faces, and your kids' bottoms, changing and collecting stray clothes, shuttling people places, feeding people, and organizing the logistics of running your house. vow to find a way to do it all more quickly and efficiently tomorrow so that you can make and record sweet, relaxing moments with your husband and kids. mentally add one more thing to your to-do list. collapse in bed, read bible, and fall asleep thanking God for another precious day with your family and praying for better time-management skills.

It really was just another day in Paradise.