A day in the life of

I know as a mom, it seems what I do everyday gets tossed into the wind. People have a hard time seeing what your day entails and how it's spent. I thought I'd share a day in the life of:

6:15 - after a night of tossing and turning due to my husbands loud, obnoxious snoring, my alarm goes off. I begin by praying that hopefully, just maybe, today will be the day my husband realizes I need the shower when my alarm goes off because my alarm is MY alarm.

7:15 - after getting myself almost completely ready, it's time to wake the kiddos and get them going. After bugging them for 5 mintues I finally get out of them they'd like French Toast for breakfast. Hunter wonders out of his room, in a sneezing fit, with red, puffy eyes. I damn myself for not picking up the Zyrtec yesterday. I add it to my afternoon list and give him a dose of Benadryl. Jayden emerges coughing up a storm and I realize we aren't going to make it out of the house without a breathing treatment. I get him started and decide an extra B vitamin might be good today. Thank goodness for the vitamin cocktail.

7:40 - I can't stress enough to Jayden that he needs to wear his newer tennis shoes, not the ones I had hidden in the back of the closet because I was tired of constantly having to tie them. Not only that, but the soles are falling off. Damn my husband for giving those shoes back to him. I swear I try to keep things easy for myself.

7:45 – I manage to get everyone’s folders, books, homework and the kids ready but we are leaving the house 5 minutes later than usual. Not a big deal, right? Yea…….there would be the 7:45 train.

7:52 – Jayden’s off.

7:54 – I watch as Hunter gets out the car, sneezing and I pray he stays awake today thanks to the Benadryl.

8:10 – I’m at work, finishing yesterday’s fires, about to start in on my caffeine for the day, when the phone rings, and the caller id would be Hunter’s school. I’m secretly shouting NO in my head. Thankfully, it’s not for me but for another mom.

12:00 – I’ve finished as much work as I can in the 4 hours a day I work and I’m off to get Jayden.

12:10 – We are now at home and I’m trying to put together lunch for not only me and Jayden but for Justin who also joins us.

12:30 – I realize the dishes aren’t going to get done by themselves and my kids aren’t quite old enough for chores yet.

12:45 – I spent 15 minutes pleading with Jayden to find another movie to watch since I can’t find Tom & Jerry. I’ve also GOT to get the dishes done if anyone wants dinner tonight and we still need to run to Wal-Mart for Zyrtec. And my god, it’s amazing how much dusts collects on the floor of my house each day.

1:00 – Daily vacuuming and sweeping are done but the darn dishes lay ahead of me.

1:45 – Dishes are done and I sit down at the computer to find the $4 off Zyrtec coupon I had just emailed to my mom last week. I open Outlook to realize I have 217 unread emails. No time for that now. The coupon is gone/expired so I’m off to google another one. There has to be a better one that the $1 one HEB is offering. It’s also then I realize I need to call about Jayden’s shot record, my medical chart, the boy’s old school info for taxes, and the list keeps on going.

2:00 – Coupon in hand, Jayden and I run to Wal-Mart. I’m hoping for a quick trip so that I can get home and take a small break. Jayden is insisting on wearing those darn shoes again.

2:30 –1 bag, $20 and 30 minutes later we make it out of Wal-Mart after 2 trips to the bathroom and my having to tie his shoes 3 times. I secretly think he knows it irks me. And one wonders why they were ended in the back of the closet?

2:45 – I have enough time to get home, find the tickets and information for Hunter’s Valentines Dance, get a check written and back up to school in enough time to pick up Hunter.

3:00 – Jayden and I arrive at Hunter’s school and walk to the office to turn in everything. Jayden shoes are untied yet again. I guess they are going into the trash tonight. My Aunt greets us and tells us about how over ½ of Hunter’s class is out sick. G R E A T. The flu, strep and a stomach bug have wiped out 10 kids in Kindergarten. There’s only 23 total to start with.

3:30 – We are know back at home and I’m ushering the kids out in the back to play while I start prepping for dinner and CRAP, I’ve got to finish business cards for work in the process.

The kids are in and out of the house the whole time, fighting, tattling, asking for a drink, asking for a snack, crying, so I end up getting nothing done. At least the boys were able to play outside and get their daily dose of vitamin D.

4:45 - Kenny calls and needs help with his taxes. I'm trying to walk him through the process while keeping the boys from fighting.

5:00 – Time to start dinner. The third meal of the day I’m preparing. I’m heading outside only to walk into the back room to realize the kids had been tracking mud inside the house with each slam of the door. I just want to sit and cry. I get the grill started and the chicken fajitas going. I’m now trying to make a small opening in the piles of laundry in the utility room so that I can pry open the armoire to get out my mop and bucket to clean the floor. Whenever will the laundry get done?

5:15 – Floor has been mopped, kids are working silently and I’ve got to finish the fajita fixings. WHOA. Wait a minute. Silent and my kids should not be in the same sentence. Where the hell are they? Sitting around the coffee table working on something. That can’t be too bad. HA! They successfully taken apart some pen their father gave them and were using it to ‘write’ on the coffee table. Yes, my coffee table is now full of very deep scratch marks.

5:45 – Dinner’s ready. I only managed to slice off half of the skin on my thumb in the process of trying to cut tomatoes. Damn sharp knives. My finger is now bandaged and the kids are washing their hands.

6:00 – The boys are finishing dinner and much to their dismay without guacamole and sour cream. Mom just didn’t have time to run to the store. I try to settle down to watch the day’s latest news.

6:30 – I managed to catch about 15 minutes of the news before Jayden spilled his drink over the table. After running to the bathroom to grab some towels, I have to ponder very hard on why is it my children can’t seem to pee in the toilet. Little boys are the worst.

7:00 – Hunter is doing his reading to me for his test on the computer the next day. The floor is clean and the dinner table is cleaned up. I guess I will be stuck doing more dishes tomorrow because it won't happen tonight with the big bandage.

7:30 – Both boys are in the shower and I’m trying to get clothes lined up for the next day. Did that weather man say the cold front was coming in that morning or evening?

7:45 – I’ve managed to get the kids slathered in lotion, allergy meds, vitamins and settled down with a bedtime snack. Yet they are now all riled up again after their father arrives home.

8:15 – I’m reminding everyone about school tomorrow and the need for sleep and 8:00 bedtime as I’m also trying to make muffins for the next days breakfast.

8:30 – Muffins are done and there’s nothing more that I’d like than a hot bath to finally shave my legs. Crap……I need to finish the business cards.

9:00 – ARGH. I’m exhausted. I really want to settle down to watch my one guilty pleasure of the week. Thank goodness I can wear jeans to work. Laundry will have to wait another day.

10:00 – I’m ready for bed. I go to set my alarm on my cell phone to realize I have 7 missed calls and a voicemail. Where was I when the phone rang? Boy’s shower? Vacuuming? Searching for the mop? Cooking yet another meal? Cleaning up a mess? I don’t have time to think. I really need sleep since the night before was tough. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to return the phone calls or the emails. Or work on my list of things to do. Or maybe I will be able to shave my legs, give myself a pedicure, fold the laundry, clean my room or hell, just have some much valuable, WANTED, NEEDED, time to myself.

My day as a mom is about giving to everyone else. That’s my gift to my 2 boys. While they are young and don’t understand and can’t value it, one day they will.

Until then, I must get some rest because I know I will be up half the night due to snoring, hit with 100 questions to answer, 200 things to remember and left with a million things to do.

I give SO much credit to full-time working moms. Honestly, if my kids were younger, I don't know if I could do it. At least now, they are sometimes self-sucifient and can get themselves ready in the morning. I still have to help some. Getting myself and 2 kids ready each morning is a job.