All in a Day's Work

They're the questions we all get asked:  What have you been up to?  Anything new going on?   My standard response has always been "Not much" or "Nothing new".   I realize those are lame comments and surely I must have something more valuable to say, something more exciting to report, something more interesting to share.  So a couple of weeks ago I decided to pay more attention to my day in an effort to provide a more witty or entertaining response to the standard "What's new with you?"  Let's see what I came up with.....

Alarm goes off, I get out of bed, change into workout clothes, go to make the bed and realize I need to wash the sheets.  It will have to wait for another day, I decide, because I already have a pile of laundry ready to put into the washer.  So I make the bed and put the whites in the washing machine when I notice that Adalynn's Awanas vest is on the ironing board waiting for me to iron on her newest badge that she earned.  Realizing that Awanas is tonight, I can't put it off any longer so I iron on the badge.  I head into the office to get on the elliptical and see that the computer is on and remember that I have some outstanding emails to respond to so I quickly log on and send a response to one email that is about 3 weeks old.  There is another old email out there too, but that too will have to wait for another day since I am now way behind on getting my workout in.  I can only get 20 minutes done on the elliptical instead of my usual 30 because I hear Wesley starting to stir a little.  I check the laundry before I head upstairs to shower and as I go to put the whites into the dryer, I realize that the last load of laundry I did a few days ago is STILL in the dryer.  Groan.  Why do I keep forgetting about that last load?  Thankfully it's just Eddie's work shirts and my workout clothes (so who cares if they're wrinkled) and I get them out of the dryer and fold them.  Wesley's starting to stir again so I run upstairs to hit the shower when I see a dark brown smudge on the floor.  What is that?  Wesley's definitely waking up so no time to investigate the mystery spot.  I take the quickest shower of all time (I hope I'm somewhat clean and notice that the shower is most definitely NOT but cleaning the shower will have to wait for another day as well), get dressed, hear Wesley's chants turn to yells and go to get him out of bed.  Wait, first I need to Wesley-proof and put up the baby gate blocking the stairs and close off the bathroom.  That done I now enter Wesley's room, and gosh, this is one cute baby.  Look at him standing in that crib hair all messed up with the cutest grin of all time.  I have to squeeze this child, only to realize he wreaks of old baby pee and is soaking wet.  Ugh.  Okay, clean the baby, put on clean diaper (restock the diaper caddy and wipe dispenser because naturally I just used the last of both), clean him up, lotion him up, put on fresh clothes.  Attempt to brush his hair, but really why bother?  Now let's take a look at the crib.... yep, peed through to the sheets.  Remove the dirty sheets from the bed and put on clean sheets.  I see the spare Boppy slip cover in the same bin as the clean sheets and figure I may as well replace that too since I haven't done it in a while.  Time to start on Wesley's dirty laundry.  Walk past that stain in the hallway (seriously, what IS that?!) on the way downstairs to the washing machine.  Get Wesley situated with a couple of toys while I get the load started.  Back upstairs, I tackle that brown smudge on the floor until it's mostly clean and deposit Wesley into the pak-n-play (aka "jail") while I go to get started on my make-up.  He cries.  I get him out of jail and let him play in his room where I can see him while I go back to doing my make-up. Wesley proceeds to take nearly every book off the little shelving unit in his room and starts messing with his CD player.  I move him back to the toys and attempt to apply some mascara when he makes his way into the bathroom and starts unraveling the toilet paper.  I put him back in his room and return to the mascara (which eye was I on?) when Wesley gives me a sly grin and closes the door to his room so I can't see him.  Okay, forget the make-up.  Back to "jail" he goes while I get started on my hair.  He cries.  I cave and let Wes play in the bathroom and oh shoot, I forgot to close the toilet seat lid and he just splashed water all over.  Okay, forget the hair too.  I guess it will have to be another messy ponytail day.  I scoop up Wes to take him to Adalynn's room to wake her up, and he happily makes a beeline for her bed and starts trying to climb in with her.  She slooooowly gets out of bed, and I help get her dressed, brush her teeth, and do her hair.  She and Wesley are left in the living room to play while I make breakfast.  I love listening to them chatter.  Their conversations vary but usually go something like this:

"No, Wesley, you need to push the green button."

       "Ga ga ga vvvvvv!"

"Wesley, watch me.  I'll show you."

       "Dadadada" + blowing raspberries (gotta love how he always accompanies "dada" with spitting).

"No, Wesley, not like that."

       Silence.  More silence.  Erm, this much silence is not a good thing.

"Mama, Wesley is getting into something he's not supposed to!" 

Sigh.  I put Wesley into the exersaucer, pick up the photo boxes and Willows he just knocked to the floor, and go back to making breakfast.  I grab the oatmeal box only to see we are about out so I add oatmeal to my grocery list for the week.  Breakfast is ready and on the table, I get the kids seated, we send up a quick prayer and eat.  Adalynn spills her juice so I clean that up.  Wesley sticks his fingers in his food so I clean him up.  I take some dirty dishes to the sink, which is piling higher than I would like to see so I decide to load up the dishwasher only to realize the dishwasher is full of clean dishes that haven't been put away yet.  I check on the kids; Adalynn is a pokey eater and is still working on her oatmeal, and Wesley is for once not throwing a fit being confined to his highchair so I have the perfect opportunity to unload and reload the dishwasher.  By the time I'm done doing that, Adalynn finally finishes eating.  I get both kids wiped up and clear off the table and see that I'm nearly out of Clorox wipes.  I add that to the grocery list too.  Time to play!  After play time, I get the kids bundled up (which, by the way, is a much longer process than one might think) to go out to the library.  While loading the children in the car, dirt collects on my coat and jeans and I stop to think that it's time to get my car washed.  After all, I haven't done that since....... July.  That can't be right, but yet it is.  At the library, Adalynn returns her books and movie and picks out six more books along with a new movie and plays a game on the computer.  While she's busy with that, I'm trying to keep Wesley from pulling out every book on every bottom shelf in the place.  Adalynn finishes her game, we leave and make a couple of ATM runs to allow Wesley his quick late morning nap.   Having a couple of minutes to spare,  I fish in my wallet to see that I have exactly $5 so I can finally get my poor car washed.  (Nevermind the inside is still filthy and I am overdue for an oil change). 

Back home again, and I feel defeated the second I walk in the door.  There are Puffs and petrified peas scattered on the floor, piles of shoes and coats building up by the door, bare spots where I should have Christmas decorations that I have yet to get out, and what is that smell?!  Suddenly for the first time, a small part of me understands why those husbands think that  we stay-at-home mommies do nothing but eat bon-bons all day long while they are at work.  Don't get me wrong, ladies, I'm not condoning that attitude.  BUT here's the thing -- I know I have been busy all day, yet I don't see any evidence of it at that moment.  The only stuff I see are things that still need to get done, and it's rather depressing.  Oh well, no time to fret about it because I need to start making lunch for my kiddos.  And so it goes - lunch, clean-up, play time, bottle and nap time, straighten up a few things here and there while working with Adalynn on her Bible verse for Awanas, put out another Christmas decoration or two, make sure I have all the necessary ingredients for the dessert I'm to bring to MOPS tomorrow (and set out the recipe on the counter otherwise I'm guaranteed to forget to make it), try to locate the culprit of that nasty smell, wrap a Christmas present, make dinner, another bottle for Wesley, eat dinner, rush out the door to get Adalynn to Awanas on time, stay at the church to work, come home and get the kids bathed and in bed, and the day is done.   

So that's my life.  It's always busy, there's always something going on, and I rarely sit down for more than 60 seconds.  However as I peruse this entry, I see that I still can't pick out one exciting thing to report.  Apparently I'll just have to stick with the "Not much" response to "What's new with you?" because, frankly, who wants to listen to all this nonsense?! 

Now that you've seen a day in the life of a SAHM, here is a day in the life of a 9 month old baby who loves to explore (from that same day)...... 

I love to read (and eat and throw) my books!

 

Not sure why Mom doesn't like me to do this because it's so much fun!

 

Sissy's shoes are some of my favorite things.

 

 

I love to sit in this chair at the library, but only for a minute.  I have more important things to do....
 

 

..... like get into the library books.

 

 

I know it's a different outfit, but it's the same day.  I just peed all over my other one during nap.  Oh, and helping Mom with wrapping Christmas presents is great!