Sarah and I thought we’d start a new series. Simple pieces and/or photos that just tell it like it is. The basic day-to-day of having three kids. Straightforward and less about the emotional part of mothering every now and then.
We’ve decided to call it This is My Life. So, here goes my first attempt:
My days are divided into two-hour blocks, which go something like this.
6:30 a.m. Wake up
8:30 a.m. Out the door to drop off B and S at school
9:30 a.m. Home from drop off
11:30 a.m. Out the door to pick up S
12:30 p.m. Home from pick-up
2:30 p.m. Out the door to pick up B
3:15ish p.m. Home again
5:15ish p.m. Dinner
7:15ish p.m. Kids in bed
7:30 p.m. until one of us falls asleep: Time with Sweetie.
Written down and simplified it somehow seems so doable. And yet.
Perhaps in my next installment I will fill in the gaps of time with the details of How We Get Out of the House so many times each day (i.e., how many times I encourage–ahem, yell at–my kids to Put on Your Shoes–and hat, mittens, snowpants, boots–and Find Your Juice Cup) and all of the other daily chores and activities that fall around the two-hour chunks, including but hardly limited to the somehow never anticipated needed diaper change at the very last minute.
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Yesterday at Motherlode, Lisa Belkin shared some new research that suggests that parents actually have 30 hours of leisure time each week. I haven’t read the article from which the researcher draws her conclusions, but, looking at your schedule and knowing my own, I’m having trouble seeing where the 4+ hours of leisure time in your day are coming from.
What is this free time I hear people talking about? I think its a mistake. They must mean freeze time. You know, when you want time to freeze for a second, a minute, or a whole day? It must be a thing of science fiction.
I joined your outnumbered world yesterday with the birth of Violet, our 3rd! I already had no time now it will be crazy! It does look so easy without all the extras in there. That’s probably why hubs doesn’t get why the house does not always sparkle! It’s hard to explain where all the time goes but go it does!
Congratulations! It’s a world full of love and chaos, this world with three. Many big hugs for you are your new baby girl.
Sarah
Congratulations, Brittany. Saw the pics and she is a cutey!
so much congratulations! it may be crazy but it is rewarding in ways that are just indescribable!
Just the ins and outs seem like so much for me! We rarely get out of the house more than one time a day (but we don’t really have any daily scheduled things like… school… yet….).
i always feel like such a voyeur when i come by this site…like i’m peeking in oprah’s panty drawer or something.
we really should start defining our household in terms of two-hour time increments. sadly, we’re not quite there yet. we define our households by transactions, a transaction being defined as any task started and successfully completed for a toddler (any of the three count), spouse, or 8yo.
honestly? it can kinda suck sometimes. we’re SO over potty training it’s a joke. i’m looking fwd to the days of school (what were we thinking not starting pre-school this year?)
but, we also try to keep the whole 30,000 ft view thing, too, knowing that one day we’ll long for these difficult days. oh well. at least i’ve been officially promoted within my house to the Bathroom Attendant.
Sometimes I do this, write down what my typical day looks like and then I try to figure out what’s wrong with it. I try to examine it like it’s a scientific problem but I come away with a giant-sized headache knowing that it reveals just the outline of the insanity of my life – be here, then be there, feed this, then cook that. Then get up and do it again.
@kristen- I wrote about the leisure time thing today! My theory is that we get our leisure time in little snippets (rather than big chunks), that we need to be better at recognizing the leisure time we spent with our own kids (rather than always seeing them as an obligation/work) and that if we really don’t get enough, we need to claim it.
Jen, the two hour thing is so true with school-aged kids! Especially preschoolers. I think the fact that many preschool programs are about 2.5 hours long is just cruel, frankly. Barely enough time to drop off the kids, get home, and make a cup of tea before it’s time to get in the car again.
I am a mom of 3 boys, one of whom is diabetic. Today, with 4 minutes to go before we absolutelymustleaveNOW for school, said child was in his underwear, backpack strewn all over, still eating breakfast. It should not take me from 6am until 8am to get us all out of the house, and yet… it does.
I commiserate.
Welcome, Samantha. First of all, three boys! I hear you. And also, Phew! I’m exhausted. You?
And yes, WHY does it take so long to do the smallest things? I’m sure I could use my time a little better. Like, oh…say…NOT being on the computer right now while the kids are running around and screeching in their jammies. I could be in the shower, or physically fighting with a toddler to get dressed. So yeah, I guess I’m kind of a culprit in my own demise, but I SWEAR that the days I am ON TOP OF IT and ALL OVER THE TIME SCHEDULE THINGY, I am still running behind, someone still needs something last minute, there is still a fight, we are still late, and I am ALWAYS frustrated.
I generally have to do a mood adjustment after the kids are buckled in their car seats and I am pulling out of the driveway. As in, Phew…we made it…now let me move on from that hellish nightmare of getting out the door and take on the NEXT challenge.
I know it WILL get easier but that’s not exactly what I am thinking of in the MOMENT. No time for that. Not enough optimism. Not until I have time to look at the kids in their sweet moments, that is. Trying to get dressed and out the door brings on nothing like sweetness.
Sarah
I so remember these days. It does get better. The “leisure” time comes in slightly larger chunks. Instead of getting a page of a book read, I can usually read a whole chapter without interruption now. LOL!
Yesterday, which is a normal Wed, I got up and made coffee. Got #6 up about a half hour after #1 left on his 75 mile commute (don’t ask! NO ONE can enjoy driving that much). Made cookies for #6′s dinner with priest last night (confirmation class thing). Did some writing and got into my professional clothes. Vacuumed. Left for a client meeting but had to go to CU first to pay for a marketing class being offered in Feb. Client meeting for an hour, 15 (drove 38 miles one way for it – love audio books). Got home and changed and started the running/schlepping around.
It really never ends.
Oh yes. That’s all I can say. Oh yes.
30 hours of leisure time? That one’s funny. Now that my kids are teens, in theory one would think it changes. And it does. You’re still crazy busy, only with different things.
I couldn’t agree with Nicki more. It never ends. (Like laundry.)
I loved the last line Jen! The untimed but desperately needed diaper changes have made me late on so many occasions. I find it awkward to explain to the teacher that I am late to pick up because one of the younger sisters pooped. And yet, we all experience it!
My day is much less structured (like, three days each week we have nowhere to be, so nice!) but I still can’t get anything accomplished. I’ve decided to think of it the other way. Look at what I did in those hours! No one else notices what I didn’t do, so why should I?
Oh, the beauty of schedules. My husband usually asks what I’m going to do in any given day before he walks out the door to work. My oh-so-exciting answers of “story time” or “go for a walk” don’t seem to justify the exhaustion that I will inevitably feel by the time he comes back home.
And: boots, snowpants, coats, hats and mittens are dead to me. Is it spring yet?
I love this post. This is very similar to my life. I can’t wait to hear more about the little pieces of your day.
I just stumbled upon your blog. Love to find a new one that will inspire.
A New Reader,
Sarah
I love the idea of this new series. Can’t wait for the photos. I’m a big fan of throwing one of those (or a video) up every now and then with just a ‘nuf said type of caption.
-elizabeth