Hines-Sight Blog: So, What Do I Do All Day?
That's a good question. A lot of days, I wonder the same thing. As I crawl into bed later and later each evening, I sometimes ponder if I accomplished anything at all.
I like to support my fellow North Carolina bloggers, and Melissa at Adventuroo is hosting a "Week in My Life" segment on her blog. Throughout this week, bloggers have been capturing daily lives with photos, sort of like an online memory book.
Since my daughter's baby book is completely empty, I thought, "Why not give this a try?" It will be fun to look at when she's 20.
So, what do I do all day? You can read this online diary and think one of two things.
1. Wow, she accomplishes nothing. I get so much more done than she does.
2. Hmm, I'm glad I'm not that crazy woman.
Here's a Day in a Week of My Life!
6:00 a.m: Beep. Beep. Beep. After the last beep, I get a tap on the leg from my husband. Guess he thinks I didn't hear it.
Every morning until about 6:30 a.m., I pack snacks, lunch, and bookbags and wait for my first cup of tea. It's English breakfast tea for me daily with milk and sugar. Can't start my day without it. If not, I'm one cranky witch (also rhymes with the name of a female dog).
6:30 a.m: This is where I take a WRONG turn in life most days. I should take my tea upstairs, shower, and get completely ready before I have the children start their morning, but I can't seem to make myself do it. I need that time to sit, read, and connect with all of you.
From 7:00 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. is utter chaos in my house as we rush to get dressed, eat breakfast, and get to school (about a 12-minute commute) on time.
On this day, I had to wake both of my sleepyheads. I let them sleep as long as I can most days, which in some ways feeds the chaos. My husband helps with some shoe tying, hair detangling, and car-seat buckling. I'm lucky, I know!
Our school bell rings at 9:10 a.m. We've cut it close a few times but do not have a tardy on our record. We are also very blessed with a late start time.
Baby Diva fusses daily when we drop off Mr. Cool. I must not be as fun as he is, but she can fuss all she wants because she's stuck with me for the next six-and-a-half hours.
As any mama knows, it's much easier to entertain your child out on the town rather than at home for your own sanity.
Today was "Mommy and Me" gymnastics.
She's getting better at her skills, whereas I look forward to the day that there is no mommy in the title of the class.
Mid-morning, we learned about colors in Old Navy as we purchased a few basics for the kid's fall wardrobe.
She likes pink, blue, and purple but tossed the white T-shirt back on the shelf. My dropping $115 on basic tees, running-type pants, socks, and pajamas is just a little reminder of how expensive it is to raise a family these days. They could use a few more pairs of jeans, but we'll just do more laundry until the next budget cycle.
She and I then went to our local CVS for an errand. No photography here, and it's a shame, too. She wanted to remove all the peanut butter cups from the pharmacy. As I tried to pay and contain her at the same time, she put all of her weight on the floor and screamed loudly.
I swooped in with my best football tackle and ran to the end zone with her under the arm as the lady at the counter handed me my purchases.
She gasped, "you don't even have to sign it. I did everything for you." Now that's customer service.
She's still rowdy at home as I try to get her to eat lunch.
1:00 p.m. is a special time in our house. It's naptime for Baby Diva, and it's my time to write, meet deadlines, update social media, read, pay bills, make phone calls, exercise, and do laundry.
I've really got to try to find some birth control for my laundry because every morning the pile gets bigger.
Around 3:15 p.m. is when I start to get us ready for school pickup. I feel that those two hours without a child by my side are over in a flash. Yes, I certainly have room for improvement in the time management area, but it's so nice to have a break.
Carpool pickup at 3:45 p.m. is my favorite and most dreaded time of the day.
How can that be? I love seeing my son. His sister is overjoyed.
But temperaments aren't always the best, especially as it gets closer to 5:00 p.m. My son is tired. My daughter is, too. They fight. There are a lot of tears.
I try to keep them occupied as best as I can and still get dinner on the table by 6 p.m. It's not an easy time of the day. In this photo, he's praying that the camera is not broken after he was goofing off, and let his sister throw it on the floor.
Today, we tackled pumpkin muffins and a very easy dinner.
My husband helps out a lot during bath time. This is his time to be with the kids while I clean up the kitchen. On this particular day, though, I was solo so he could have some quality time with friends he doesn't see often.
Got one child to bed, then worked on the next one. About 8:30 p.m, I kissed my son goodnight, and sat down in front of my computer before doing any more cleanup.
Finally, all was quiet in the house at 9:00 p.m.
There was still laundry to fold.
I shut the door to the laundry room. After all, tomorrow is another day.