7:30 ~ I get into a daily spat with my husband about how we are always late for school/work and how maybe I should get out of bed when my alarm first goes off in the morning. He's right, of course, but he knows I'm not a morning person and will not get up before I ABSOLUTELY need to so we will continue to argue about this until our kids can drive, leave the house, and/or I retire. Stuff some breakfast into baggies so the kids can eat in the car and we're off on our separate ways to conquer work/school/farm.
3:30 ~ I pick up the oldest from school, stop by the grocery store to buy snacks for my son's preschool class and then pick up the younger two from daycare.
4:30 ~ We arrive home. This is where the chaos really begins. I feed snacks to quell whines of hunger and shoo them out of the kitchen to play. While cooking supper, I realize I forgot this and that at the grocery store so I improvise a little here and there and pray they'll at least try my concoction. I finish supper while breaking up 3 fights over toys/bedroom occupancy/toileting drama and putting toddler in 1 time-out for hitting me in the face.
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| When shooed from the kitchen she strips off her shirt, puts on her brother's hat and shoes and gets stuck in the high chair I've been meaning to get rid of for a month. |
5:30 ~ We sit down for supper and I listen to kids complain about not liking this and that. This begins my lecture about all of the starving children in the world and how grateful they should be they have food to eat. Ech! I try to recover our conversation by talking about the best parts of their day. Halfway through supper, we stop eating to pray because my 4-year-old reminds us we didn't do it when we initially sat down. Clear plates. No time for dishes now.
6:00 ~ I convince the oldest to practice piano since her lesson is tomorrow. I alternate between helping her and trying to play with our toddler to keep her content. While I'm at the piano helping the oldest, I hear crying. I yell at our toddler for pushing our 4-year-old off a chair. Then I scold the 4-year-old for letting a 19-month-old push him off a chair while somehow trying to teach him a lesson about standing up for himself. Whining about completing piano theory lesson starts so a break is taken to do homework while I give our toddler a bath. Then the 4-year-old takes his bath. Back to piano while my 4-year-old reads himself a story quietly, "You don't have to help me. You can help Liv." My heart breaks a little but I suck it up because the night's not over yet.
7:00 ~ I put our 4-year-old to bed. Did I even talk to him tonight? My heart breaks a little more. I read him a book, sing him a song and end his day the same way we always do. "I love you buddy." "I love you Mommy." "You're the best Bubba in the world." "You're the best Mommy in the world." Every night this about makes me want to cry because A) it's so sweet; and B) pretty soon he's going to realize how neglected he is and then he might not want to say that to me anymore.
7:15 ~ I come back downstairs to alternate between dishes and reapplying a diaper to my toddler's bottom every 5 minutes after she pulls it off in an attempt to sit on the potty. Squeeze in a quick workout of squats, lunges, push-ups, jumping jacks and sit ups...the girls attempt to exercise with me which always gives me a good laugh. Afterwards, we sit down to do some art and my oldest and I try to carry on a conversation while I try to prevent my toddler from digesting all of the craft materials.
8:00 ~ I put our toddler to bed and then finish up some paperwork from work while my oldest reads her book. Shower her, shower myself and then up to bed we go.
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| Having a picnic in the living room to break up the monotony of a day at home. |
Sometimes I feel like the answer is no but then I remember the little things; the details that get lost in our daily rituals. Like how our toddler gets so excited when the phone rings and brings it to me with anticipation waiting to hear who's calling. Or her jabbering and singing in the backseat on the car ride home...for the entire 20 minute ride. Or watching her "work out" with me and then giving up, pulling a chair under me while I do my squats and literally kicking my butt every time I do a rep.
Like how Bubba gets an idea in his head that he's going to figure something out (this week it's alternated between tying his shoes and making a Rescue Bot out of Legos) and watching him do it. Or him sitting down and "reading" a book to Lexi. And of course, always, his words to me at the end of the day.
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| We do try to create memorable moments whenever we can! |
These little things are what make the daily grind bearable on some days. They are the things that I'm most fearful I will forget. We will always remember the big things like fun family trips, special creations, or holiday excitement but will we remember all of the little details that make each day somehow unique in the monotony of our daily routines? I sincerely hope so. I want to remember that in the midst of the daily grind and hustle and bustle of our lives we have created moments every day of love and fun in our house. And I hope my kids will look back and remember these moments too.
