Here's a perfect example of what I mean:
I woke up this morning armed with my mental To Do List -
1. Throw in a load of laundry while getting everyone up & dressed
2. Drop off library books before dropping girls off at school at 9am & put in a few hours at work
3. Leave work early enough to run to the grocery store for milk, OJ & bread before picking girls up at 12.
4. Catch up on e-mails, return calls, & finish work while girls nap in afternoon
5. Finish laundry while girls are at dance class
Seems doable right? Wrong! Here's why:
My girls decided to wake up on the wrong side of the bed! For starters, they argued about everything from who would get to use the bathroom first to what they had to wear. Amidst the chaos, I completely forgot about throwing in a load of laundry - I was focused on just getting them dressed and downstairs for breakfast. Maybe at nap time I can get the laundry done.
Getting off to school was another adventure! The Littlest Diva decided she wanted to wear flip flops (not allowed). After 5-10mins of a struggle, I finally wrangle socks & sneakers on her amidst high pitched crying on her part. We're finally ready to go! Of course, the Oldest Diva now needs to use the bathroom! Now we are officially running late! I guess the library will have to wait until after I pick the girls up from school.
I drop the girls off at school (finally!) where the teacher asks me if I can come in early to help sort papers that need to go home today :) Of course I say, yes!
I rush to work to get what I need to finish today completed with (hopefully) enough time to get to the supermarket before I return to the girls school to help the teacher. Of course that did not happen! My desk is piled with things that need attention, calls are coming in, e-mails are awaiting answers and I have less than 2 hours to accomplish everything! I end up losing track of time and barely make it back to school with no more than 15 mins to help the teacher. We will have to stop at the library and the grocery store on the way home from school!
After school I stop at the library. Before going in we go over the rules: 1. quiet voices 2. stay with mommy. As soon as the door opens, both girls go running - so much for rule #2! I chase after them and decide my best bet will be carrying the youngest to ensure their cooperation. This leads to wails and cries of "put me down" - so much for rule #1! I speed through the drop off and check out process in record time - it still can't be fast enough for me at this point!
In the car the girls begin to fight over who can see which book first while I am driving. At the next red light, I confiscate all books which only leads to crying from both of them. I finally make it home, only to realize..... we never stopped at the grocery store! Aargh!
After lunch, I put the girls in their beds for a nap and hope to finally get some things done. Nope! After 30 mins of them playing and my going back and forth trying to
By the time dance class is over, dinner has been cooked and eaten, dishes done, baths given, stories read and the girls are finally tucked in bed for the night - I am EXHAUSTED! I think about my To Do List and all that I did not accomplish. Oh well! Tomorrow, I will do it all!
Wow! Sounds like my days lately. I sometimes find myself wondering, "Would I accomplish everything I have to do in a day if I had a few more hours??" - and I find myself answering that question right away, "No!"
ReplyDeleteKeep up your good work! It doesn't matter that you didn't get the laundry done, or were running around like crazy all day...at the end of the day, you are an awesome mom and your girls are absolutely WONDERFUL and blessed to have you!!!
PS - loved this first entry...going to read #2. Will have to send you my blog name so you can read up on mine...even though I wrote a couple of times, and have not had time to do so anymore....