Are any of you mom's out there feeling like life is so repetitive and going by so quickly? I swear some days I feel like I'm standing in the middle of a tornado. I have 4 kids constantly circling me with all their millions of wants and needs, 3 animals that somehow have the same number of needs some days, and a husband that I don't get to spend much time with, even though he only goes to school 3 days a week.
I have never in my life been so busy. I have a dry erase calendar in my kitchen that is completely full for the month of October. I have ANOTHER calendar hanging in the kitchen to schedule thing's out past the month we are currently on. Appointments, school fundraisers, birthdays, holidays, play dates, early dismissal days, school projects, field trips, and so many other random things that pop up. I look at this calendar and think.....when did this happen? Wasn't I just pregnant with Laura and going to the pool every day with Nicholas having the time of our life......with no calendar to be seen.
Life certainly has taken a turn. For the better. We are so busy as a family of 6 (some days I still can't believe we have a 6 person family!), that it truly makes me smile to see my calendar so full. I feel like this shows me just how involved as parents we are.
We try our hardest to be active in our children's school's and lives. If you have a baby or more than 2 children you know how hard this can be. I remember how hard it was when I just had Laura and Nicholas. It seemed like we couldn't get out of the house to do anything most of the time because of all the things you had to bring, the scheduling of naps.....thing's are still the same yet different these days. I won't budge on naps. As an experienced mother, I know just how important nap times are. I'm sure all you mama's know too!! I still bring a diaper bag full over everyone else's crap (lol) but I know that I don't NEED the entire house with me just to go to the park. It took me a few kids to figure it all out but I'm there now :)
I remember being a mom of 2 and feeling very bored. I would wake up, get Nicholas off to school and have the day to play with Laura, and clean what needed to be cleaned. That didn't take too long. A 6 year old and a baby didn't make too much of a mess. I found myself feeling like I wasn't contributing much. I look back now and know that a stay at home mother contributes just as much as a parent that works outside of the home, no matter how many children you have. It took me a few years to learn this.
Now days, I don't have time to be bored. I wake up at 6am, get the girls and Nicholas up. Get the girls dressed and hair done. Get all the kids breakfast, send them to brush their teeth, make their lunches, get shoes on, clean up breakfast, kiss them goodbye as Nick takes them to the bus stop. Change William and feed him. Start laundry, come back in to unload and load dishwasher, stop to play with William and Katie for a bit......deep breath.......get Katie's shoes on for third time, drive her to school, drive home, go from room to room cleaning what needs to be cleaned, feed the animals, stop to play with my little man, get William down for a nap, work out, drink my coffee in silence :) and back to cleaning, make phone calls that need to be made, fill out any school papers, get William from his nap, take out the laundry from the dryer and fold and put away. Another bottle and snacks for Mr. Man, and play time, pick up Katie, make lunch, clean up lunch, go through Katie's school papers, more phone calls, another load of laundry of course, bathroom cleanup, sanitize door handles and light switches, vacuum, take William and Katie to the bus stop to wait for Laura's bus, get home to do snack time and Laura's homework. Another nap for William, Katie needs to lay down but will most likely lay in her bed for an hour then come out excitedly yelling "I took a nap, now I'm awake!!"....can't resist and let her lay on the couch while I fold that last load of laundry, Nicholas comes home, homework time with him, time to start dinner.....deeeeeeep breath......set table as I break up fights, put a kid or two in timeout, grade homework and feed the animals again. Spend time with my kids while we wait for dinner to finish, and eat as a family. Dinner cleanup and family time for a while. Bath time, story time, brush teeth, pick out school clothes, and bed. Hugs a gazillion times for each child (that's ok I love that), and finally.....yes finally sneak out of their rooms.....for the last clean up of the night. Sigh.......... I'm tired just typing that all out. I'm sure I even left a few things out by accident.
The life of a parent is just truly insanely CRAZY! I'm nonstop all day and night. Nick does all this with me while going to school three days a week. I'm blessed to have him to do all of this by my side. We have really become a great team. We know exactly what to do when, and what comes next. It took some years to find a flow....especially while adding children to our crew. We have come to a place where we both know what needs to be done and we just get it done. I love that.
So while my calendar intimidates me at times, I'm happy to see it full. Each and every month I am doing thing's with my family. With my children. These things take up places on my calendar....but most importantly these things take up places in my heart.
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