Ready, Set, Goooooo!

This is an outline of a typical day in my life (see below).  In general, I feel like life is always going a little too fast for me to keep up. I didn't put any spaces between the things I do because that's how it feels to me, one thing after another with very little breathing room. I often imagine that the things I need to accomplish are a big snowball rolling down a hill and getting bigger and bigger and bigger (not the most optimistic view, I know, but it's what comes to mind - I'd be grateful for alternative suggestions!).  Thankfully, there are days when the snowball of to-do's shrinks through help I get from others, a really beautiful, sunny day, or the occasional productive morning or evening.  Those days feel wonderful and then my snowball can roll for a while again before it feels like its too out of control.  (Please note: this is how my typical day goes.  Joe does a ton, too, which you don’t see from this perspective.  He’s right in there working everyday, taking the bus early so we can have an easier morning, playing with Xavier, helping with dinner, laundry, baths, diaper changes, snow shoveling, etc. He is wonderful! ) 

6, 6:30, and/or 7am-push snooze & ignore my good intentions OR get up eventually, do some Wii Fit

8am –get awakened by X saying “It’s morning! Play with me!”, grumble a bit, kiss Joe goodbye, feed baby

8:30 – change baby, morning prayers

9am –fix breakfast & eat with X, unload dish rack (no dishwasher here except for our two hands)

9:30 – play with X & A, take a shower

10am – put baby down for nap

10:30 – play with X, try to sneak in some work and cleaning

11am – finish getting dressed for work, prepare lunch, start dinner & laundry, if possible

11:30 – eat lunch with X, change/feed baby

12:00 – get baby in carseat, put shoes on X, remember everything for preschool, baby, and work

12:30 – drop off kids, speed to work

12:45 – Run into work late & race into kindergarten class for storytime & skills practice

1:00 – teach math & writing skills for rotating groups of 2 or 3 students, supervise & assist tutors

2:00 – send students home!,  clean up, prep for after school club & next day

2:45 – pump milk for the baby, label & store milk, text Joe just to touch base with each other, take a second to go to the bathroom, if possible

3:00 – run to pick up ESL students for ESL group, teach ESL skills to kids who don't want to be there (I don't blame them, it is the last 30 minutes of school)

3:28 – race the “school’s out” bell to get down the hall to the cafeteria to pick up snacks for my after school kindergarten group before all the students are let out and there is mass chaos

3:40 – help after school kindergarten students write names, teach rotating groups math & writing skills

4:15 – talk with the students during snack time (I get a snack, too, if someone isn’t there that day!)

4:30 – hurry students to go to next after school activity, sanitize the computers, desks, and chairs, pray that I don't get sick after having ______(insert any student's name) sneeze or cough on me during the rotations, leave lesson plan for next day’s AM teachers.

4:45 – Look at clock and realize I have way more to do but know it’s time to go pick up the kids

5:00 – race into the preschool/daycare to pick up X & A before the $1-a-minute fine starts at 5:15pm.  Feel so happy to see X and A; feel loved by the kids’ excitement to see me.

5:15 – pick up Joe & share X & A's excitement at seeing him coming

5:30 – tumble into the house with all of our stuff, refuse X’s plea to play with him right that second, take a deep breath and try to transition from work thoughts to home thoughts, try to ignore my hungry and exhausted body since the kids really need attention right now, nurse baby, play with X for a few seconds

5:45 – make the rest of dinner if I happened to have started it (or start from scratch…), eat, feed baby while eating, try to get X to eat a few bites of food without gagging, complaining, getting out his own preferred foods from the fridge, or asking to be excused. J

6:30 – play with X & A, talk with Joe, check email, think about doing dishes

7:00 – put kids in bath, dress & feed August, & put her to bed

7:30 – get X ready for bed – this sounds much easier than it is!

8:00 – say family prayer, read or listen to stories with X, cuddle with X, fall asleep before X (yes, before)

Later (anywhere between 9 and midnight) – wake up & realize I had a lot of work to do but fell asleep instead and am now totally groggy and unmotivated. Get ready for bed. Check email. Say hi to Joe and see if we want to watch or read anything together (Chuck, Lie to Me, Sliders...). Pick up the house a bit, pray that I'll get more done tomorrow and be less grumpy with X. 

Much, much too late (usually after midnight and before 2 or 3am) – drop into bed, feed baby, say couples prayer & feel grateful that we have each other, we have jobs, and we have two wonderful kids, listen to Joe fall asleep instantly, slowly fall asleep with head spinning of To-Do items, lesson plan ideas, the next day's schedule, thinking about the pros and cons of working as a preschool teacher from home, and thinking up inventions I know will make us millionaires someday. S..l...e...e...p...