When asked recently why I did not go to “work”, I began trying to explain the amount of work involved with being a full time, SINGLE (ahem!) stay at home Mum to three children (I am homeschooling the oldest), and two dogs, AND, as a thriving member of the SANDWICH generation, caregiver to my own elderly mum of eighty-seven. But my explanations always seem to be lost on deaf ears. Those who have never tried the work that I do, have no concept of how much energy, brain power or imagination it takes, each and every day, twenty-four hours a day. Well, sometimes I sleep. But never for more than four hours at a time, max. Is that normal, I wonder? What is normal about my situation though? Maybe it is MY normal. :)
I thought I would lay out the contents of my “normal” insane (?) day and see where oh where I am going to fit in the time to be a travel agent from home? So far I have only been training and it is not too bad to spend a short time on the phone and training through the computer, but how will it be when I add an eight hour shift into the mix? Will I be able to multi-task that into the day successfully?
My day begins very early…to have some time to myself, I often rise around 5am, after the final nudge for breast comfort from my youngest of 18 months, who takes up residence in my bed from approximately 2am onwards. We are still weaning and night time nursing is almost all he has left, poor lamb.
From 5am-6am I indulge in coffee, internet entertainment, emails, news and some metal (or sugary pop!) videos to get my morning started. If Rowan continues to sleep, I try and get some creativity flowing and work on one of my writing projects. But when the sun is rising, the best thing to do in those early morning hours to myself, is to stand on my deck and breathe in the morning air, watching the sunrise over the ocean before me. It is a glorious view and I feel so blessed every time I wallow in the vision before me. I love where I live right now.
Lately I have been visited by some very friendly blue-jays…they come to my deck and sit on the railings, silently observing me. I have never seen blue-jays be this vibrantly blue and Mum thinks it is a sign of good fortune. Maybe she is right. I love that the children always take the time to stop and point out the birds…no matter where we are, I have encouraged taking notice of nature as a fulfilling part of life and I love it when it shows in them.
My “me” time is shattered when the baby stumbles down the hall to find me, usually around 7am. I snuggle with him on the couch and start my morning with the previous night’s George Strombo show, followed by anything else I need to catch up on stored on my PVR. By 8am, my older two are awake and take over the couch and TV while I get breakfasts for everyone. Artzooka is my six year old son’s morning viewing choice which is a good lead in to his homeschooling lessons.I spend from 8am-9am tidying up the kitchen, sorting dishes, preparing my son’s school area and arranging an art or craft thing for my four year old daughter to do. I never sit to eat breakfast, I just eat as I go. It works. :)
At 9am, my daughter and I get washed up together and ready for the day, then we give big brother the bathroom and my girl goes downstairs to do her activity with Grandma. She usually gets some nice cakes or sweets from Grandma and they have a good time together. They are the best of friends, as it should be.
My son sits at the table from 9am to 11am to do school work, which I oversee. I sit with him and do a variety of lessons with him in between dealing with getting the baby dressed and chasing him about. It is a mega juggling act!
Some days I fall short of my self-imposed schedule, but since I am a Virgo into structure and order, things usually go fairly according to plan.
When my oldest finishes lessons, he heads downstairs to join Grandma and his sister for a bit, and if Grandma has had enough, then they play in the rec room nicely. Well, I “aim” for nicely, because as they keep seeing from trial and error, when you treat each other “nicely”, we all have a better day, lots more fun, feel good, etc. The more they keep seeing that, the better they respond to it. Time. All in good time. We bear some battle scars from Daddy and as time goes on, those scars fade and heal.
I take the baby for his nap at 11am and if I am lucky, he is asleep by 1130am. If he wants to fidget and play, it takes me longer and then I get so sleepy laying there, I just want to drift off for a nice nap…HELLO REALITY CHECK! Um, no. I can’t have a nap. I have to get lunch. And if I do actually manage to sneak a peek into dreamland, I am pulled back to earth very quickly by someone shouting, “Mummy!!! I’m hungry!!!”
Ok, so from noon-1pm I make some lunch. Did I mention I hate cooking? No, hate is too strong a word. I greatly dislike cooking. :) I do it because they have to have nutrition and I can follow a recipe. But some days it just seems like all I do is cook. And I could menu-plan like my BFF tried to teach me but taking time to menu-plan would take time away from me doing something creative, or reading a chapter of the latest Colin Angus book, so no. Maybe one day I will buckle down and make some menu plans. One day when I have some TIME.However. Until I find that time (or get someone to do it for me!), I stick to what I know and keep on aiming for nutritional balance or fun, creative meals. Whatever works to get them to eat and be happy about eating!
I don’t mind if they eat in the living room. They have a kid sized table and lunch is a good time to view a dinosaur documentary or some other educational video. I eat at the kitchen counter while cleaning up and getting more school work arranged. If I get a moment, I might be able to take a load of laundry downstairs. But Mum might request scones or some other baked good, in which case it becomes a great Home-Ec lesson for both my oldest son and my daughter. I always have to push myself (as a kitchen hater! I mean disliker.) to bake stuff with them though and it is on my list of “activities to do with children at home” which I consult often! I can make any task fun when I need to! :)
They are fabulous bakers though. Better than I am for sure and with far more enthusiasm! It makes a huge mess and that gets my cleaning super behind, but the fun outweighs the mess. Memories are made with every baking spill…
After lunch, the oldest two usually go outside to play, or if it is raining, I arrange an activity for them at the table. This is when the baby generally wakes up and I pop him into his high chair for lunch. While he eats, I tidy up, get dishes done, continue with laundry, sneak onto the computer (if lucky), squeeze a page of reading or writing in OR do some singing with whatever music I have on, and maybe take a few moments to sit down and breathe. Maybe. Or maybe the floor needs mopping, or the bathroom cleaning…the chores are neverending it seems. But the key is to keep going and keep progressing every day. Nothing is forever. This is now.
I have to start planning dinner by 3pm. I often look online to create a recipe around whatever meat I took out the night before (or that morning, whenever I remember!) and I get all the ingredients sorted out for that and then I take the baby outside to join the others, or I chase him round the house for free play. There is so much lego it is hard to be on top of it all so when my baby is on the loose, I have to drop everything to chase around behind him. If he is having a good time and playing safely in each room he enters, I try and do some tidying, laundry sorting, etc wherever he is playing.
To make myself feel good, at least once a week I put on one of my amazing organic Eminence masques (haha, this could be a plug for that company!) and let it sit on my face all day. Have been loving the results on my skin from the rose line I began using this summer. Small, but important indulgences, I feel.
When the sun is shining and the children are happily playing outside, I sometimes tackle some outdoor work. Like mowing the lawn. I really hate, oops I mean, “dislike” :) any manual labour tasks and soooo wish a strong prince charming would come along and do it for me…until then though, I slowly get on with it. If I can’t muster the strength to “get on with it”, (this calls to mind the gross phrase often chucked at me of “suck it up”…this is such an unkind phrase and makes one not want to suck anything up at all! At least in my case…it simply makes me sulky!) instead I try and bring a notebook outside with me and do some longhand work on whatever project I am working on while the children play around me. This exact blog was written in longhand over a stretch of days before I used some of my early morning ME time to post and edit it into word.
By 430pm, I have to head back to the kitchen (again?! Arrgh!) and prepare supper. If Mum feels up to it, she often stays outside with the children while I disappear to slave over a hot stove. If it is rainy out, my oldest will do some more school work at the table and the others stay with Grandma for stories and snacks.
I serve supper at 6pm which can sometimes be a struggle to get everyone sitting round the table and paying attention to eating. But I strive for it as an important factor of our day. My oldest son is already quite good at setting the table and takes great pride in this chore. Children love routine and chores…for the most part! Some things still elicit heel dragging though!
After supper, the baby hangs out with me in his high chair while I embark on more (yes, you guessed it!!) kitchen clean up. The oldest two tend to disappear to the bedroom with their desserts or downstairs to the rec room. This makes for a fun game for me of “hunt for dishes”, spread over the week whenever I have time…or whenever we run out of dessert bowls, whichever happens first!
If it is a bath night, I try and get the baby dealt with first, then secured in his playpen while I direct the other two through shower or bath time.
I aim to get everyone to bed by 8pm (which usually does not actually take place until 9pm or later once you figure in story, snacks and, generally more negotiating than my brain can handle at this point!) and then, if I am lucky, I find some time to chill on the couch and enjoy Coronation Street and Eastenders. If I am feeling extra saucy, I will maybe check out something else I have taped…Graham Norton is a current fave!
More often than not though, I will only get to catch up on any TV on the weekend, when and if I can sneak it in. By the time the children are asleep most evenings I am far too tired to stay awake another moment and am asleep for my first 4 hour stretch before my head even hits the pillow.
Some people will see this blog as self-indulgent whining. It is not meant in that way at all. It is merely a peek at what I do, how I do it, and what it takes to get it done. I am proud of myself, exhausted, sometimes can use a nice bit of ego-stroking, and overall, contented and happy.
If I can make the travel agent thing work, I will be able to provide a trip for us to Hawaii (next on my list of where I want to visit…volcanoes for the children, beaches for me!!) and I will be one step closer to the greater goals. So I just have to fit it in, I have to stretch myself thinner and make it work to reap the rewards.
I feel I am exactly where I want to be right now and I am lining up everything in my life to head towards my ultimate life’s destiny.
Group hug! :)
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