All in a day's work

I wish I could say that today was markedly different than most days at my house, but truth be known, today was so typical. I had a neighbor woman in her 70's ask me what I do all day at home. There was no malice, I really believe she was curious to know what exactly I do all day. "Aren't you terribly bored?" she asks. "No," I reply, "Not bored at all." This led me to think about exactly what I do all day so I thought I'd keep track. I tried to pick a random day when I didn't necessarily have anything special to do. So, as I'm sure we all sometimes have days like this, I am leaving this completely un-edited. Enjoy this lengthy summary of my day:

5:45am - Ryan leaves to catch an early flight at the airport. Seconds later I hear Brayden scream from his bed, "Daddy! You didn't say goodbye!" I sprint to his room, swing the door open, and drag Brayden out before he wakes Landon. Brayden, obviously traumatized by my sense of urgency and Ryan's departure, cries all the way down the hall to my room.

6:30am - After a lovely 45 minutes of Brayden mauling me in bed while I try to get a couple more minutes of sleep, I hear Charlotte. Oh my sweet teething baby. Ever since those darn teeth started coming in she thinks she's allowed a 6:30 milk call. I'm not amused.

7:00am - Landon wakes up, goes into the bathroom and announces that he has wet his bed. I begin thinking that if I was going to have to deal with a child wetting the bed I should have at least been able to sleep until 7. Sheets and clothes go into the laundry and showers follow. Yes, showers plural because if one boy gets a shower, suddenly the other boy must have one too. After all, we like to be fair at my house.

8:00am - Breakfast - FINALLY! I am absolutely starving! Although instead of opting for my favorite sugar cereal (because come on - it was just one of those mornings) I decide I would rather have a peaceful breakfast of cereal equality with my boys rather than one filled with cries of, "I want that cereal too!"

8:50am - I am doing a babysitting swap with a friend and she should be here in 10 minutes. Do I have time for a shower? I decide "yes" and actually get 10 minutes to myself to shower while Charlotte naps and the boys quietly read. I peak into the playroom to see Brayden "reading" to Landon. Maybe this will be an ok day after all???

9:00am - 12:00p - Friends arrive and the boys are distracted momentarily from teasing each other relentlessly. We play games, run "the lap" around my couches, color and draw, and play with play-doh. I change laundry and try to fold what's already clean. Thinking I can escape for a few minutes to make some phone calls, I dial, only to hear children screaming at the top of their lungs behind a closed door. Trouble. Tackle football is going on behind closed doors and the older boys are telling Landon he's too little. To prove them wrong he hauls off and full on drops Brayden to the ground and pins him WWF style. Of course the other boy joins in...thus, the screaming.

12:00p - I sneak mini candy bar after mini candy bar (oh blessed sugar rush) while I make noodles and peas for the kids. Lunch turns out to be a success, although it gives the kids way more energy than I realized it would...repeat above.

1:00p - Is it really naptime?! I get all 3 kids down for bed (ahhhhh) only to have Landon consistently get out of bed and go to the bathroom a million times. After all, in his little genius brain he can't get in trouble if he's just going to the bathroom, right? I knew letting him sleep in a "big-boy-bed" was a bad idea. I try to fold laundry and pick up the house between bouts of telling Landon to "Get back in bed!" Charlotte's up, we feed, and play. Oh I love laughing, giggling, baby playtime.

3:00p - Everyone is awake and I realize I'm down to the last quarter of my day. 4 more hours until bedtime. The home stretch. I realize we could go to the bank and the post office and do drive-thru for both. I'll put a book on CD on in the car and the boys will stay occupied and maybe I can have some peace and quiet. I hurry to get my stuff in the car, everyone gets packed in, and a mile down the road, you're never going to believe who has to go to the bathroom...Landon. So bad in fact that he's going to pee in his carseat. "Please no!" I plead with him. We get to the bank and I decide that surely they have a bathroom my son could use. I pull everyone out of the car and into the bank only to find out they don't have a public bathroom. The woman I ask looks at me like I'm crazy and as I look at us, I realize I would probably think the same thing. In my haste to get out the door, I didn't realize that Brayden was wearing shorts (he had changed during naptime), rain boots, and his winter coat and Landon has noodle sauce on his face from lunch and serious bed hair. I am no better, sporting my black workout pants and brown leather shoes (remember, I thought we were doing drive-thru) and no makeup. Charlotte looks fabulous though in her cute faux-fur coat and definitely doesn't fit in with our little group. I decide to stay in the bank and finish my transaction and while I stand in line the boys run around terrorizing the bank. I "quietly" yell at my children to stay by me and hope the tellers at Wells Fargo will be able to find wherever the boys placed the handfuls of deposit and withdrawl slips they had in their hands. I finish my transaction and ask another woman if there is PLEASE a bathroom my son could use. She says ok, but it's in a "top secret" place so he will have to go by himself as I'm not allowed. "Of course he can go by himself" I hear myself say and silently pray - HARD - that he doesn't get preoccupied with the multiple toilet paper rolls and cool powerful toilets. She takes him back and I wait what seems like an eternity before he finally emerges. He did it! All by himself! Good boy Landon! Maybe all of that practicing during naptime is helping you...

5:00p - Dinner is thankfully un-eventful (leftovers will do that to you) and I bribe the boys with "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street" if they can get their pj's on and get ready for bed. This way I can get dinner cleaned up before bedtime. That would be wonderful. My little plan works - at least for Brayden - and I eventually end up saving Charlotte's life at the hands of Landon, dishes aside for now. I knew it was too good to be true to have the kitchen cleaned up before bedtime. I make some phone calls trying to locate a babysitter for a couple of hours tomorrow thinking I could sneak in a trip to the gym. My efforts fail. The sheets get back on the beds (again, equality - if I'm washing one set, I might as well change all the beds - it'd been a full week after all...) and Landon and Charlotte get ready for bed.

7:00p - The movie ends, we sing songs, say prayers. 2 down, 1 to go. I rock and talk and cuddle with my precious girl. Bedtime. AHHHHHHHH. The day is done, well, except for the cleaning up part, which for tonight, may just have to wait until tomorrow. :)