A Day in the Life

5:20 am, wake up, shower, get ready for the day

5:50 am, go set out the boys’ breakfasts and lunch sacks, get the baby’s bottle ready

6:00 am, get the big boys up, sit them down to breakfast while I collect their clothes (occasionally Craig will be up at 5 and join me for the wee morning hours, which makes it super interesting . . . but more often he stays asleep til just after 6).   Lay out clothes on the back of the couch, then go get the baby up and at ’em.

From 6-6:40 I have to be sure everyone is fed, dressed, shoes on, the dog walked, the dog’s bowls filled, lunches packed up and put in backpacks, all other needed items in backpacks, baby’s diaper changed and bag packed with morning snack, clean sippy cup, shoes and socks, all teeth brushed and hair combed, and all my stuff ready for the day.  I also have to make sure we’re packed up for any night activities (e.g. baseball) and I have snacks, distractions, etc. for the non-participating boys.  All of the stuff and all of the boys have to be in the car by 6:40 so we can drive to the bus stop, and Jack can catch it shortly before 7am.

6:50 am, having loaded Jack on the bus, I drive the little boys to daycare.  We arrive at about 7:20, and I get them bundled off into their rooms, then head over to work.

7:40 am, arrive at work, put my packed lunch in the fridge, fill my ice water pitcher, answer email.  From here out I won’t detail except to note that I do client work, I keep track of my time in six minute increments throughout the day, and rarely take any sort of break.  Today I sat in the lunchroom for half an hour and chatted while eating my salad, but most days I eat at my desk while powering through.  Once a month or so, I’ll go out to lunch with coworkers – depends on deadlines.   Less often than is healthy, I’ll take a walk around the block.  (I really must join our gym again, but it has to wait til Liam is out of daycare.)

4:45 pm, pack up laptop and needed items for evening, then leave work to get the little boys.  *On days when the Prof picks up the boys, I leave at closer to 6pm.  But when he’s not, since our nanny quit (BY TEXT MESSAGE, NO NOTICE, DID I MENTION?), I have to leave earlier to be able to get everyone on time.

5:00 pm, collect little boys, grabbing the day’s notices/reports/artwork and shoving it in their respective backpacks, then load up in the car and head over to get Jack.  Outlook notification reminds me it’s baseball day – I forgot to load the baseball stuff up in the car, so we have to head home first.

5:30 pm, arrive at home, leave boys in the car while I run in the house and change into jeans and boots, grab snacks/juice boxes for the big boys, diaper bag plus bottle of milk plus dinner for Craig, collect all of Jack’s baseball stuff, Craig’s stroller, and a towel for all the red mud, then shove it in the trunk.  Hand a squirrely Liam some pretzels, and a fussing Craig his bottle, then head out to get Jack.

5:40 pm, check Jack out of after-school care, then drive about 100 yards over to baseball practice on the elementary school ball fields.  He is pretty tired and dragging, as are we all (I’m now in my 12th hour of go-go-go and they are all on hour 11).  I pull the double stroller out of the back, stick the diaper bag, my purse, Craig’s shoes, and the snacks in the back seat, put Craig in the front seat, sling Jack’s baseball bag over my shoulder, then collect all three children and hike across the gravel parking lot to the field.  Jack’s 10 minutes late, but we’re doing our best.

5:40-7:00 pm, entertain the children, answer work emails, and feed the baby dinner while Jack is a trooper at practice.  He is totally wiped but sticks it out – most practices do not come at the end of such a long day, I’m thankful to report.  Craig sets his sights on this little girl’s toy stroller and we play the fun game of Try To Distract the Determined Toddler From His One And Only Off-Limits Desire.  The little girl was in full-on toddler mode as well, as in I Don’t Really Care About This Stroller Until Someone Else Wants It And Then It Is MINE MINE MINE ALL MINE MOOOOOOOOOM.  Liam played games on my phone, so at least he was easy to handle!

7:00 pm, pile the whole safari back in the stroller and stride back to the car, then head through the McDonald’s drive through.  I make dinner every day except baseball day – baseball day is chicken nuggets day.  I get a Dr. Pepper because I’ve got a few more hours to power through yet and I need that caffeine.

7:15 pm, we’re home.  I set the big boys in front of the tv with their happy meals, walk the dog to the mailbox while carrying Craig, dispense with the mail, then bathe Craigsy and give him another bottle and put him in bed.  It’s a bit later than normal and he is tired with a capital T.

7:40 pm, sit down to eat my now-cold McDonald’s.  Jack comes in with some kind of request and I shush him and send him away so I can take a twenty minute break, just me and my quarter pounder, mama’s Precioussssss.

8:00 pm, bathe the big boys in a large bubble bath, as an alternative to our usual shower routine, by request from my tired baseball player (again, a bit later than normal but baseball is disruptive).  PJs, milk, teeth brushed, loveys collected and distributed, a quick book, and lights out by 8:30.

8:30 pm, take the dog on a longer walk, fill his bowls, unpack the car fully (stroller, diaper bag, school backpacks, my work, etc. etc.)  Process all of the crap we get daily from the kids’ schools, so much stuff.  Check Jack’s homework.  Empty the dirty dishes from their lunch sacks.

9:00 pm, do the dishes.  Grudgingly.

9:15 pm, sit down and open the laptop to do 1.5-2 more hours of work

11:00 pm-5:20 am, sleep if I’m lucky, toss and turn if I am stuck in manic-mode and can’t slow down my brain.

5:20 am, alarm goes off, and off we go again.