Thursday, August 20th was one of those days when, at the end of it, I felt like all I did was work. It went something like this.
The alarm went off at 8, I hit the snooze and rolled over for a few more minutes, but promptly heard Maureen awake in the kids room. I got her out of bed, but also accidentally woke up Johnny. Got them both a cup of milk and convinced Johnny to lie in his bed a little longer.
After 20 minutes, Maureen and I get up and she helps me make my bed. We go downstairs, where I feed the cat, drink a breakfast shake, pop a couple of waffles into the toaster and take my pills. When Johnny shows up a little later, I give him his waffle and run upstairs to make his bed and Maureen's, scoop the catbox and sort some laundry.
When breakfast is over, I put on PBS for the kids and go back upstairs to take a shower. Both kids show up halfway through Dragon Tales, so we brush their teeth, get them dressed and listen to Maureen cry while I comb her hair. After that, I scarf down a hardboiled egg and we go to the gym.
Halfway through my workout, I'm famished, so I take a break to eat a fruit bar. After my workout and shower, I collect the kids and go home. We stop at the bank on the way. At home, I fix the kids lunch and do the breakfast dishes while they eat. I run upstairs to throw my sweaty gym clothes into the washer, and vacuum up some litter that the cat tracked down the hall. Johnny knocks his milk over, so I wipe up the mess. As soon as lunch is over, Maureen goes down for a nap and Johnny and I go to the backyard. He plays with bubbles while I dig up stinkhorns and treat the areas with vinegar.
It's hot, so we come inside soon and he plays with his tractors while I check my email, throw the laundry into the dryer and start another load. He asks to watch a video, so I put in Cars, do the lunch dishes and make myself something to eat. While he is occupied with the video, I pay a bill, schedule guest bloggers for the following week, and sign up for a fall class at the gym. The video keeps freezing, so we turn it off and read books for awhile. Then I get him set up with some stickers and paper while I pack clothes and gear for our vacation.
When Maureen wakes up, I send Johnny back outside while I get her ready, and this is where the day pretty much falls apart. In the few minutes it takes me to change her diaper, check the dryer and put her skirt back on, he has decided to chop down the mammoth sunflowers and made a huge mess. Maureen and I go out and I end up weeding and cleaning up the mess. While they play in the sandbox, I pop inside to feed the cat and check the time. In the few minutes I am gone, both kids end up with buckets of sand on their heads and Maureen is screaming about her eyes. No way are they going in the house like that, so I strip them down and hose them off. Johnny thinks this is a blast and Maureen screams some more. Everything is soaked, including shoes, so I pile all the wet stuff inside the door, then sweep up all the spilled sand and put the cover on the box. The kitchen still smells like sour milk, so I collect the throw rugs.
Once inside, we go upstairs so Maureen can have a bath and Johnny can have a shower. I fold the dry laundry and toss the second load into the dryer and put the rugs into the wash. When the kids are clean, I get them into jammies, clean up the bathroom and take them downstairs for dinner with daddy, who is now home. While they eat, I pay another couple of bills.
When dinner is over, my husband takes the kids upstairs for books and bed, and I take the van to the gas station, going by the mailbox first. Once there, I unhook both carseats and thoroughly vacuum the whole van. It takes forever, because there are crumbs everywhere and it's hot as hell, so I'm sweating like crazy. After reinstalling both carseats, which requires sitting on them and pulling and yanking and more sweating, I fill the tank and go home.
At home, both kids are still awake, Johnny in his bed and Maureen in mine. My husband collects some stuff to take to his brother, then heads out to drop off the stuff and then go to the gym.
While he is gone, I add the bills to the spreadsheet we use to keep track on finances, do the dinner dishes and clean the kitchen, sweep some puddles out back from the hose, sweep and mop the floor (which I had just done the night before, but between the sand and the milk, it needed it again), folded more laundry and threw the rugs in the dryer, started another load, fed the cat and took out the trash.
At 930, I moved Maureen back into her crib and restarted the dryer. Then I checked all the doors and windows to make sure they were locked, straightened the couch cushions, checked my email again and spent some time petting the cat. After that, I grabbed the rugs out of the dryer and put them back, covered the grill, and cleaned the shower and floor in the bathroom. At 10PM, I realized I hadn't eaten dinner, and when I peeked in the fridge, I saw how much food we still had to get rid of before vacation. So I made myself a huge salad with all the odds and ends, ate it and did the dishes. When my husband got home, we talked about some details, then I folded the last load of laundry, changed the sheets, took a shower and collapsed into bed at something like 1AM.
I didn't spent my day saving the world or anything, and nothing that I did was particularly difficult, but I certainly spent my day working.
So what was that about stay home mom's not working again?
The alarm went off at 8, I hit the snooze and rolled over for a few more minutes, but promptly heard Maureen awake in the kids room. I got her out of bed, but also accidentally woke up Johnny. Got them both a cup of milk and convinced Johnny to lie in his bed a little longer.
After 20 minutes, Maureen and I get up and she helps me make my bed. We go downstairs, where I feed the cat, drink a breakfast shake, pop a couple of waffles into the toaster and take my pills. When Johnny shows up a little later, I give him his waffle and run upstairs to make his bed and Maureen's, scoop the catbox and sort some laundry.
When breakfast is over, I put on PBS for the kids and go back upstairs to take a shower. Both kids show up halfway through Dragon Tales, so we brush their teeth, get them dressed and listen to Maureen cry while I comb her hair. After that, I scarf down a hardboiled egg and we go to the gym.
Halfway through my workout, I'm famished, so I take a break to eat a fruit bar. After my workout and shower, I collect the kids and go home. We stop at the bank on the way. At home, I fix the kids lunch and do the breakfast dishes while they eat. I run upstairs to throw my sweaty gym clothes into the washer, and vacuum up some litter that the cat tracked down the hall. Johnny knocks his milk over, so I wipe up the mess. As soon as lunch is over, Maureen goes down for a nap and Johnny and I go to the backyard. He plays with bubbles while I dig up stinkhorns and treat the areas with vinegar.
It's hot, so we come inside soon and he plays with his tractors while I check my email, throw the laundry into the dryer and start another load. He asks to watch a video, so I put in Cars, do the lunch dishes and make myself something to eat. While he is occupied with the video, I pay a bill, schedule guest bloggers for the following week, and sign up for a fall class at the gym. The video keeps freezing, so we turn it off and read books for awhile. Then I get him set up with some stickers and paper while I pack clothes and gear for our vacation.
When Maureen wakes up, I send Johnny back outside while I get her ready, and this is where the day pretty much falls apart. In the few minutes it takes me to change her diaper, check the dryer and put her skirt back on, he has decided to chop down the mammoth sunflowers and made a huge mess. Maureen and I go out and I end up weeding and cleaning up the mess. While they play in the sandbox, I pop inside to feed the cat and check the time. In the few minutes I am gone, both kids end up with buckets of sand on their heads and Maureen is screaming about her eyes. No way are they going in the house like that, so I strip them down and hose them off. Johnny thinks this is a blast and Maureen screams some more. Everything is soaked, including shoes, so I pile all the wet stuff inside the door, then sweep up all the spilled sand and put the cover on the box. The kitchen still smells like sour milk, so I collect the throw rugs.
Once inside, we go upstairs so Maureen can have a bath and Johnny can have a shower. I fold the dry laundry and toss the second load into the dryer and put the rugs into the wash. When the kids are clean, I get them into jammies, clean up the bathroom and take them downstairs for dinner with daddy, who is now home. While they eat, I pay another couple of bills.
When dinner is over, my husband takes the kids upstairs for books and bed, and I take the van to the gas station, going by the mailbox first. Once there, I unhook both carseats and thoroughly vacuum the whole van. It takes forever, because there are crumbs everywhere and it's hot as hell, so I'm sweating like crazy. After reinstalling both carseats, which requires sitting on them and pulling and yanking and more sweating, I fill the tank and go home.
At home, both kids are still awake, Johnny in his bed and Maureen in mine. My husband collects some stuff to take to his brother, then heads out to drop off the stuff and then go to the gym.
While he is gone, I add the bills to the spreadsheet we use to keep track on finances, do the dinner dishes and clean the kitchen, sweep some puddles out back from the hose, sweep and mop the floor (which I had just done the night before, but between the sand and the milk, it needed it again), folded more laundry and threw the rugs in the dryer, started another load, fed the cat and took out the trash.
At 930, I moved Maureen back into her crib and restarted the dryer. Then I checked all the doors and windows to make sure they were locked, straightened the couch cushions, checked my email again and spent some time petting the cat. After that, I grabbed the rugs out of the dryer and put them back, covered the grill, and cleaned the shower and floor in the bathroom. At 10PM, I realized I hadn't eaten dinner, and when I peeked in the fridge, I saw how much food we still had to get rid of before vacation. So I made myself a huge salad with all the odds and ends, ate it and did the dishes. When my husband got home, we talked about some details, then I folded the last load of laundry, changed the sheets, took a shower and collapsed into bed at something like 1AM.
I didn't spent my day saving the world or anything, and nothing that I did was particularly difficult, but I certainly spent my day working.
So what was that about stay home mom's not working again?
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6 comments:
I'm tired just reading that.
I don't know Kayris, I think raising two happy, capable, healthy children into happy, capable, healthy adults is saving the world.
Holy shi-ot that makes me tired!!!! I am lucky to have help, but still feel like nothing gets done and tag teaming kids, cleaning, writing, meetings...and Coco's screaming...I am tired! Mine start at 5:30am!
Had many days like that, when I actually longed for my office. It's chaotic, too, but occasionally I get to go to the bathroom without someone calling for me.
I've said it many times, my friends who stay at home with their kids work far harder at home than I do at work. I'm jealous of you anyway!
When I went back to working outside of the home I realized how great it was to being working with adults and actually having time to accomplish something and receiving a salary for it - I was exhausted just reading abt your day and having horrific flashbacks!!!!
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