I want to document one day in my life with 5 kids so that I can remember...
Saturdays seem especially crazy so I want to write down how a particular Saturday went so I can understand why I get a tight feeling in my chest sometimes and why I get anxious sometimes and why I always have to stop and take really deep breaths on Saturdays b/c I feel like I just can't quite catch my breath.
Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012 -
7:00am - wake up, put on exercise clothes to go for a quick run, Sky and Jack wake-up so I bail the exercise idea and try to cook some breakfast for everyone, Marnelie ends up taking over b/c I'm too distracted with other stuff.
7:45am - wake up those who aren't up yet, Sammy & Carson need to get ready for basketball prac.
8:00am - Get mad at Sammy bc she didn't get up, but went back to sleep (stress), "why can't you be more helpful when dad is out of town?" Blah-blah..lame lecture, I feel bad afterwards (stress).
8:40am - Leave for Fastbreak practice with Carson, Sammy - leave them at b-ball so I can get back to Woodlands for 9:00 Fighting Fish parent mtg.
9:30am - Arrive at Fighting Fish mtg.
10:45am - Stop by our house, pick up Bailey & Jack to take them to b-day party, Skylar wants to go with me so I grab her and throw her in the car too.
11:20am - Drive back to Fastbreak to pick up Sam & Cars'. Skylar wants to go but I'm in Mike's car, don't have her car seat, diapers or snacks but she is adamant and I'm worried I'm going to be late so I take Sky with me (bad decision). The traffic on the SLE toward Tampines is TERRIBLE. Sky is restless in the back seat so I look in my purse for something to entertain her. I have Mentos, the mint kind. I decide to give her one and she's happy until she starts choking on it. I'm on the freeway, in traffic, but I grab her out of the back seat, turn her over and smack my hand on her back b/c she's genuinely choking, I get the mento out, she's screaming and freaking out so I'm driving on the freeway with a freaking out 2 year old on my lap (stress).
11:30am - Get phone call from Marnelie that Katniss, our cat, has been attacked by a neighbor dog. Marnelie tells me that she has a cut on her nose and seems to have a possible broken leg (stress).
12:45pm - We arrive back home. I drop off Sky and Jack, take a quick look at our cat, then jump in the car again to drive Sammy over to Sweet Charity rehearsal.
1:00pm - Pick up Jack from the b-day party. Bring Evan and Katie back to our house to play with all of their fun, new weapons from the NinjaGo party. So glad they are coming over so that Jack will be distracted with friends and not notice that his mom is not home. I start to call the Vet, e-mail my friend who is a vet, text my friend who is a vet, play phone tag with my VET friend for the next couple of hours.
2:00pm - Go to the primary school at SAS to sign Jack & Carson up for Cub Scouts. Fill out a ton of paperwork, pay a ton of money and feel (stressed) b/c I know I'm a terrible Cub Scout mom and now I'm about to sign up 2 kids for Cub Scouts when I already feel overwhelmed with one Cub Scout and all that scouts requires. I find a den for Jack and NO ONE wants to be the den leader. NO ONE! It's all dads in our den signing up their boys and I'm the only mom signing up my child. I know that Mike doesn't care if they even do Cub Scouts but for some reason I feel like I
have to sign them up. Like all good moms sign their boys up for Cub Scouts?! (stress) At least I decide to hold my ground very firmly and do NOT sign up to be a den leader or assistant den leader. (I knew Mike would absolutely kill me if I did so I refrained and I'm so glad that I didn't get roped into that.) We'll see what happens later when no one steps up...
4:00pm - Go home, pick up Bailey and drop her off at her friend's house downtown. She had plans to get ready for TDT at her friend's house and go to the American Club with them.
5:00pm - Pick up groceries for dinner tomorrow, pick up sandwiches at Subway for dinner.
Talk to Vet friend, decide to take Katniss to the vet at 6:00, after the Vet re-opens after dinner.
6:30pm - Take Katniss to the vet, Sammy goes with me to check her in. We find out the deet's: Katniss will need X-Rays, need to stay overnight, lots of meds for her, price will be at least 580 dollars, or more, depending on the severity of the break.
7:30pm - We leave Katniss for the night, head home. Sammy and I have a good talk in the car about the difference btwn the value of a human's life and the value of a pet's life. She thought I was a bit insensitive leaving Katniss all day at home while I was running around doing errands instead of taking her straight to the Vet. I think that this short amount of time alone with Sammy was the best part of my day. So glad I have that amazing girl in my life!
8:00pm - I start getting kids ready for bed, spend some time with everyone before tucking them in for the night. Sammy has a friend over to watch a movie.
9:30pm - Bailey arrives home from TDT. We talk about her night and who she danced with, etc. She walks to my friend's house with me to deliver her some ice cream for her b-day. This is the other best part of my day. Bailey is such a great buddy and so fun to hang out with. She tells me lots of good deet's from her night but still is smart enough to keep me hanging on the juicy stuff just to be safe. We walk back home. I'm so tired. Jack is coughing like crazy in his bed. I give him some cough medicine.
11:00pm - Sammy's friend goes home. I crash in bed. I realize Carson has to give a talk in church tomorrow and we haven't prepared it yet. Two boys are sleeping in my bed. One is coughing constantly. (stress) I try my best to sleep through the coughing.
12:30pm - A colleague of Mike's calls...our home phone. He has an emergency in China and wants to know when Mike will be landing in the U.S. I calculate the hours in my head and try to tell him. (stress)
1:00am - I go back to sleep finally, thinking about how tomorrow is Sunday and I need to get a million things ready for church in the morning, including my nursery lesson and I have to go visit the cat in the morning...basically, I know that Sunday is going to be pretty crazy too but at least I don't have to drive any kids to activities. How is next Saturday going to be, when Saturday soccer starts up for the rest of the kids???? Mike is not going to be able to go out of town any more Saturdays (a girl can wish anyway....).
As I read through this post it actually doesn't
sound as crazy as it
felt that day. I sometimes feel like I'm the most overwhelmed mom around me though and why can't I get ahead instead of barely making it through the necessities? Where was I supposed to fit in scripture reading into this day? What happened to my kids doing their Saturday chores? We got in some individual, bedtime prayers so I am just going to have to feel happy about that...
