I always wonder about what other women do... so I thought if I show you mine, maybe you'll show me yours? (Agenda for the day, I mean.)
6am - Pat's alarm sounds, he hits snooze
6:11 - ditto
6:22 - ditto
6:30 - my alarm sounds (much better radio station than his, lol); today I hit snooze (I would say that 3/6 days I do this, the other 3 I actually get up, Saturdays I don't set an alarm)
6:33 - Pat's alarm again, snooze again
6:38 - my alarm again (like really, with his alarm going every 11 min and mine every 8, why do we even bother?! - there's no way this can be classified as more sleep); I'm irritated by the constant and clashing radio music, so I get up... brew a pot of coffee... sit down for my God time, today I decide to just spend time in prayer (sometimes I just work on a study book or read my Bible, and if I'm honest there are days I end up doing nothing - a variety of reasons for this, as you can imagine with 5 kids, lol)
6:44 - Pat's alarm, snooze
6:55 - ditto
7:06 - Pat's alarm, he gets up! (why the man doesn't just set his alarm for 7am, I'll never know?!)
7:10 - Kai starts hollering from his crib - needs a diaper change and a bottle - ready to conquer the world
7:15 - finally, I get to pour a cup of that coffee!
7:25 - Abbey & Meg appear upstairs, starving and already bickering; cereal is served (in case you're wondering, if fast and easy equalled fine cuisine I'd be a gourmet chef!)
7:30ish-9ish - this is when time begins to blur all together in the flurry of breakfast, brushing teeth, packing backpacks, leaving for work, leaving for school, numerous requests for juice and wiping of bums, noses, etc...
9 - by now, the big kids are off to school (Abbey only goes to Kindergarten on T/ Th/ every 2nd Fri; Meg goes to playschool Wed/ Fri mornings; Braeden, of course, goes to school M-F), Malakai is typically ready to lay down for a nap, and whatever combination of children are still at home are busily engaged in singing/ dancing/ gymnastics routines in the middle of the living room
9-noon - depending on the day of the week, you'll find me any number of places, not usually at home --- really, I should be at the gym EVERY morning working out (haven't been there once in over 2 weeks, boo!) --- (Mon, lazy home day; Tues, was Meg's gymnastics until she refused to participate 3 weeks in a row, now ?; Wed, Frienship Factor at our Church; Th, housework day; Fri, errands)
...today's morning agenda includes: vacuum, dust, windex, sweep, swiffer, scrub tubs/sinks/toilets, clean the disgusting little rodent's cage (thanks a lot, Santa), laundry, kitchen, help the kids sort toys back into their proper locations... (I should be honest here and tell you that I'm not really as organized as it sounds, lol, I am looking at my giant calendar as I type - there are an unfortunate number of days where appointments get missed, oops, if I forget to refer to the oh-so-vital calendar!)
noon - lunch time, which we all look forward to (the kids likely had a snack or two mixed in with all the morning schmazzle); lunch is typically mac & cheese, alphaghetti, grilled cheese, soup, or some such fancy fare for the kids; mom has salad, yougart, fruit, or when we've got a little extra $ a microwavable Weight Watchers meal
1pm - NAP TIME/QUIET TIME - NO EXCEPTIONS!!!; now, if I've been home, I'm sure I've checked email at least 4 times by now (it's in my living room, so when I hear the ding, I go running!), but this is the time I typically veg and read blogs, check facebook, etc; I also try to sqeeze in some work time for women's ministry, as there's always something to be done (lots of time spent just chatting on the phone, which can be great but exhausting... email... website maintenance... event/retreat planning... etc.)
2:35 - Braeden's bus delivers him to our doorstep. (I know, ridiculously early, isn't it?!) Apparently shortening the day for the special needs class that he's in makes it easier for the teachers - what about the parents, lol. Wonderfully, this is his time to play his play station or go down the street to his buddy's house (who's in the same class and also gets home ridiculously early).
3 - by now, all semblance of quiet time is thrown to the wind and loud is the new rule; I try to do supper prep, talk on the phone, keep the kids busy, and stay on top of the email (I am unable to bear the concept that an email would arrive and I would miss it somehow by not checking immediately, lol - Pat thinks I have a problem, I call it 'organization' and 'staying on top of things')
4 - run out to meet Abbey's bus around the corner (thankfully, another mom walks Abbey and her friend to the bus in the morning), bringing an assortment of kids or not, depending who wants to come (if no one comes, I am pretty much okay with leaving them for the 5-10 minutes it takes, as long as I know they're occupied with TV or a snack and as long as Kai is not on the floor - thankfully, he's still typically sleeping)
4-6:30 - again, enter the crazy zone! (I once received a phone call as we were preparing to sit down for dinner, and the woman on the other end asked if I was having a party, hahahaha)... somewhere in here we eat and clean up, do homework (this is Dad's job, phew), pack lunches for the next day, set out clothes for tomorrow (let me tell you how much headache this brainwave has saved me each morning!)
6:30 - bath time assembly line - sorry, no time to play when there's 5 to get clean (and a new rule - no one baths together - thanks to too many flooding incidents, lol)
...also, this is the time that we will be leaving and having a sitter arrive if we've got grown-up evening stuff going on; usually a couple nights a week (Mon, either women's Bible study for me, or right now 'Love and Respect' course for us; Wed, senior high youth for Pat; assorted women's ministry meetings for me; date nights; VERY occasionally a fun night out with friends for either or both of us - let's see, we went to Pat's work Christmas party together on Dec. 15; oh, I went hot tubbing at my BFF Christine's house about 2 weeks ago; wow, Pat really deserves a night out! Ohmygoodness, I can't believe I forgot this - we got to go to Riverdance on Feb. 16!!! Yah, Pat really really deserves a night out.)...
8pm - bedtime, phew! Prayers and songs all around, followed by Mommy collapsing on the couch (well, for a few minutes until one little mess or another catches her attention).
10:30ish - Mommy's bedtime (oh, yeah, Daddy's too, lol).
When I write it all out like this it makes me feel a little breathless! But it's actually not that bad. There are times where it is sooooo loud, times when the sqwabbling gets to be too much, but overall it's just routine. Watching my friends with older kids...now they've got BUSY! Extra-curricular stuff, family stuff, major homework, oh boy!
So, what's your day look like? How many times per day can you be found at the computer? Do you try to grab some 'God time' each day (and when, and how many days are you successful)? Do you feel busy? Too busy?
Thursday, February 21, 2008
6 comments:
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Your first hour and a half crack me up!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog on Live Well Wednesday.
wow! mine is sooo much easier than that! (thankfully) i can't believe you bathe all your kids every night. i do it like 2-3 times a week. and since 2 of them can pretty much do it themselves, i don't do them all on the same night. call me diryt i guess. in the summer when they're outside alot, then i do, but in the winter when they're indoors or bundled from head to toe, i don't worry about it. i typically do it the day b4 church days. (haha) so at least they appear clean(!) shame on me!
ReplyDeletei'm like you, i chekc my email all day long. i guess when you stay at home alot it's something that helps me feel like i'm still part of the outside world, gosh that sounds so pityful!
and i do devotions after the kids leave. i do devotions w/ them b4 school on their level, then do my own after they're gone. so typically i only get that 3 days a week, b/c sis is home the rest.
this is really long! sorry;)
We're dirty too! LOL! We try to bathe them every other night (especially since 1 is in diapers, 2 wear pull-ups to bed, and 1 doesn't always get things properly cleaned in the bathroom), but I must confess to many weeks where it's done 3 times - and it could've been only 2 except my mother intervenes when she feels too much time has passed and she bathes them (praise the Lord for her, she's the best!). I do the same thing for Church, hahahaha...
ReplyDeleteI always want to do devotions with the kids, but we've still got to figure that one out.
Thanks for sharing and answering my ?s. :)
my youngest is 4. and last year is when we started the devotions in the morning, it didn't go so well. but this year the Lord really put in on my heart that it needed to be done not only b4 school, but also 1st thing when we get up, otherwise it doesn't happen. we run o/o time, or whatever distractions come up, you know? my 6 yo has this great little Bible. it's a Kids devotional Bible. it's perfect for us for right now, w/ the different age groups and time and attentions spans. it's like the womens devotional Bibles, but for kids:) don't fret, when the time is right, it'll happen, it did for us. i had tried different things when they were younger, but it's so hard when you have the younger ones like you do. it gets much easier.
ReplyDeleteand yes, Prasie God for when moms intervene for us!
OMG Tyler your post made me kind of sad, and very dizzy!! With all the wonderful things you accomplish in your life you still come down on yourself for not doing more. You are a beautiful woman, a loving wife and a caring mother who is devoted to God and always there for her friends. On your 'lazy' days (I don't thing you even know what that is personally) it is okay to stop and smell the roses or put your feet up and watch Jerry Springer to your hearts content - you have earned small personal pleasures. You fill your childrens' lives with God and goodness so don't sweat not doing the daily devotions, or, maybe try to do it in the tub and make the time extra special. Isn't cleanlisness next to Godliness??? So what if it is only once a week better than nothing right.
ReplyDeleteKeep up your blog - it makes me smile!!
This is my day....
ReplyDelete6:00- shower
6:20ish- get up to spend time with the Lord.
7:15- make grits for Joel(they take awhile to cool and he is SO impatient if they are not ready when he sees them)/ blow dry my hair.
7:30- give Jeff a back rub to wake him up/ kids are all waking up at this time.
8:00- motivate the children to eat breakfast so that we can get school started.
8:30- breakfast clean up and chores.
9:00- on a good day school has begun. (most days still trying to avoid the start of school)
9:00 - 12:30 ish- doing school with the kids /correcting attitudes (many days mine included)/ going crazy with the responsibility of home schooling/ depending on the Lord/ avoiding the phone and computer until school is done/ preparing lunch and last but not least...answering a million questions.
1:00- usually cleaning up from lunch/ finishing whatever school needs to be done.
2:00- Joel goes to bed!!! Party time!! I usually lay down on the couch and REST!! The four older ones fend for themselves.
3:00- up and doing whatever needs to be done...housework, blogging, email, talking on the phone (not in order of importance)
4:00- get Joel up / still working on the important things from 3:00
5:00- I wonder, man where has my day gone and what can I make for supper. Try to come up with something to make before Jeff arrives home from work.
6:00- Supper is late again, but will be ready REAL soon...I promise! Listen to children tell me HOW hungry they are and that they can't wait until supper is ready!
6:30- 8:30- supper clean up/ and just wasting time waiting for the children to go to bed. (watch a movie, play a game, watch Jeff play with the children, get back on the computer or maybe even clean something)
8:30- 9:00 Bedtime for kiddos!!
9:00 - 10:30 - Clean up the living room and kitchen/ call family on the cell phone...free after 9:00/ read a book/ blog if I didn't already that day/ spend time with Jeff/ correct school/ or organize something
10:30- go to bed (OOPS...I just looked at my clock it is 10:42. I better get to bed!)