Tuesday, February 23, 2010

My Dailies

A few days ago I read a blog about another blogger's daily schedule. Her day was busy but charming and productive. It made me think of my own dailies. Some days are more productive than others, of course. And some days are much, much less. Yesterday I had a migraine so I stayed in bed literally all day and by "literally" I mean all day except when I was taking birthday treats to Maggie's class and Sam to the orthodontist. It wasn't charming at all. Neither was it an example of me putting my children first in spite of my pain. I may seem long-suffering--a real trooper, but my excursions on my children's behalf were fraught with gagging, yelling at Ellen, apologizing to Ellen, holding back tears, nagging, and pointing out how messy the house gets when I am down for "just ONE day. . . this is what it is like if I don't pick anything up for just ONE DAY."

You might be picturing me weary but loving at the orthodontist's office, murmuring softly to entertain Ellen while we waited--perhaps with a story or a song. Instead, I slumped in the chair and stared straight ahead doing nothing, looking at nothing, and saying nothing--but I did have the presence of mind to look away when I saw someone I knew from high school.

Not all days are like that though. Here's a typical day.

6:00am: My husband's alarm starts going off. He pushes snooze again and again for up to an hour. I am enraged.

7:15am: Ellen comes in begging and crying for "sushee" (cereal) in a purple bowl. I drag out of bed and put on a sweater because while I do all of the unkempt schlepping most mothers of toddlers do, I also live with kids who are old enough to notice if I'm braless. It's like having people around all the time.

7:45am: Sam is driven to school by me or my husband, so I usually put on some kind of pajama shoes at this time.

8:00am: Maggie and Ben leave for the bus. They miss it about half the time. So I usually keep my pajama shoes on for this. On a good day, Ellen hasn't gotten any potty on her yet.

8:30am: At this time I might do dishes and straighten up, but a lot of mornings I've been trying to fall back to sleep since 6am so I lay in bed and let Ellen watch Charlie and Lola.

Before 11 usually: I take a shower if Ellen lets me. She's gotten into this cute habit of throwing a fit and screaming, "Don't take a shower! You can't take a shower." It's easier to wait until she's in a better mood because then she lets me.

12-1pmish: Naptime. It might be more predictable if Ellen actually ate lunch, instead of bags of a variety of cereals and crackers, but I take what I can get. And then I lay in bed and blog.

2:45pm: Sam always calls to see if I will pick him up from school. It's 5 minutes away. Sometimes I say yes, unless Ellen is asleep.

3:45pm: Maggie and Ben arrive home with notes, homework, stories, fighting, hunger, and a pile of junk. Before you know it, their friends are at the door. I have to decide whether to get my kids out of my hair, or deal with requiring chores before they play. It could go either way.

6pm:I have to make dinner. Again? Geeze. I am enraged.

8pm: Bedtime. I get into my pajamas and read/blog/watch TV. I often leave dishes in the sink for the next day, which contributes to the mood in the morning. Christian is usually home by bedtime, or safely at his church meetings, or at other meetings he has volunteered for, or helping someone who needs him.

It's a crazy life. But it's our life! (And I haven't even mentioned the dog and what a pain it is.)

RubyEllen (see her "dailies" above) wakes up her children at 8am. They take a nap from 2-5 when she wakes them up again. I don't think I've ever awakened one of my kids on purpose. Ever.

Maybe you have some tips for me about planning my schedule. Maybe you think I should be more proactive about showering. Maybe you think I should do a lot of things differently than I do. Maybe you should shut up.

Until I had Ellen, I used to teach English at BYU. I really loved it and always planned that one day I would return to it full time. These days, I hope to never do it again-even in those twilight years when "all my kids are in school." We'll see.

Here is my dream schedule.

Wake up when I want, how I want.
Take a shower whenever I get up with no one in the bathroom with me or screaming at me or waiting for me.
Straighten up--and have it stay straightened for a long time.
Go shopping and buy whatever I want. In this dream, I am rich and I get to try things on leisurely.
Eat lunch. I would even eat a healthy lunch.
Come home and take the dog for a walk and read a whole book.
Then I go out to dinner with Christian.
Then I go to bed. In my dream, there is always a new Lost on and Project Runway goes year round.
In the morning I wake up and do it all over again.

37 comments:

  1. Thank you for this. You have NO IDEA how much I needed to hear this today.


    word ver: out iou

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  2. Read the other dailies and started thinking what mine would sound like. Read your dailies and decided yours sound like mine. Hooray. Way to keep it real and make me feel less like a total loser. My son has crackers and spray cheese for lunch almost every single day. What can I say? He eats it.

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  3. I noticed that you never mentioned Days of Our Lives in your schedule. I am enraged.

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  4. A whole book...divine. Also I think it would be nice if no four year old picked the lock while I was showering.

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  5. I often wonder if my lack of a regular schedule makes my kids crazy.

    Oh well. Too bad if it does.

    I like your dream daily, except I would like to OUT to lunch every day.

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  6. Holy crap. I've been thinking about really green salad with all the perfect salad ingredients cut into tiny bits perfectly for like THREE DAYS and I just came across your blog through...well...I'm not sure AND THERE IS THE SALAD. Apparently I was here the other day, too.

    And I thought I'd let you know you crack me up. I think I'm going to write my "dailies" now. Even though I kind of got slapped in the face by another a family member one time who said that she wasn't into reading blogs about what people did all day. On her blog. But now, courtesy of your blog, I know what to say to haters.

    "Shut up."

    The end of comment.

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  7. That other girl's day made me tired and insecure. Yours made me blissfully happy. And I would hope that at least once a week you could squeeze me into your dream day for lunch. And/or TV. I'd take either one.

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  8. "Maybe you should shut up." hahahahahahahahahaha

    Oh how I enjoy you.

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  9. Your comment about your husband hitting the snooze button for an hour stuck out to me because I used to deal with the same thing. I finally took over the alarm. I said, "Honey, what time do you HAVE to get up? I'll set the alarm to go off once (5 minutes) before that and that's it!" And that's how it's been since. The alarm goes off and I say, "There's your first warning." It goes off the second time and I say, "Get up cause I'm turning the alarm off!" He gets up. I go back to sleep (if I don't have to get up too.) It's worked great!

    I love your posts and was glad to follow you here from LRS!

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  10. That other lady lies, right?

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  11. haha Loved this Kacy! Seriously. it's amazing how hard getting a shower in can be sometimes. And by sometimes, I mean every day.

    and Grace eats 1 of three things for every meal: cereal, eggs, quesadillas. that is all she will eat.

    oh yeh. fruit snacks.

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  12. If I didn't have to go to work after dropping of kids, I really can't promise WHEN/IF I would shower.

    Who knows.

    Oddly enough, word verif is: BEDrudi. I find that appropriate somehow.

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  13. Who will teach Freshman English to my grandchildren when they go to BYU?

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  14. I echo the other commenter who took her husbands alarm away - My husband is not mature enough for his own alarm clock. Unfortunely I am not as nice when waking my other half (maybe that is the repressed anger from all of the snoozes) I nugde him nicely once, the second time I put my foot in the small of his back and push. Then roll over and go back to sleep.


    I get the migraine stuff too - I feel it is enough to at least get the kids to their appts when feeling that way. There are no points for niceness when someone is ripping all of the brains out of your head through invisible holes!

    :)

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  15. What? No painting on canvas or playdough at your house? No exercise video and fresh Swiss chard?

    Ellen cracks me up. Sounds like she knows who's in charge at your house. =)

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  16. Seriously. Thank you. I went through reading the other dailies, trying to find SOMEONE whose life looked remotely similar to mine. Or someone who referenced actually doing any cleaning, or cleaning needing to be done. Alas, there was nothing (besides the occasional dish, but let's be real here). I liked your daily better. And it was funny. Funny always wins.

    Who goes outside at 5 am to pick fress chard from the garden for her husband's lunch? What?

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  17. I just read the other daily you linked to and I didn't understand a word of it.

    Not. One. Word.

    word verification: dinglie (and, no, I am not a twelve year old boy).

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  18. Seriously, this warms my heart...my sister from another mister, I've always dreamed you were out there somewhere!

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  19. Anonymous9:31 PM

    Your dream day sounds so much like mine. Sometimes I wonder if I would even bother to eat meals if I didn't have to feed my kids, though.

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  20. Absolutely. Hysterical!! As I said on my facebook status while sharing the link to your hilarious post with all my peoples - I feel like you are describing my life, only in a Much Funnier voice, and mine would be without the dog, completely!! You definitely have a way with words, and Thank You for making the rest of us slackers feel validated :)

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  21. I love your dream schedule. It is 8 a.m. and I've been up since 6 a.m. when my children woke me up. Chris stayed in bed until 7 a.m. even though he's supposed to get up an hour earlier. I have not showered nor will I until much later in the day. I also haven't brushed my hair. I might still be wearing my robe when I put out the trash. This is allowed since I live in the suburbs (my rule). When we go to the store (something we do EVERY day because I'm not an efficient shopper), I will probably buy things for the kids that they shouldn't eat. They won't eat vegetables today - or any other day. I don't think I have a schedule. On a good day I think this makes me "flexible."

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  22. Your perfect day is my perfect day minus the shopping. I hate to shop. That doesn't mean I don't like to buy things, just hate to shop for them.

    Ed used to snooze like crazy...early morning seminary has cured us all of that habit. You Utahans just wouldn't understand.

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  23. You are making me feel bad. Straightening and doing the dishes!?

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  24. I love you.
    I read this post while eating my second breakfast and washing down my first Double Gulp. I just grumbled at my 2 preschoolers for needing help with the Wii because when that thing is on I'm not supposed to have to do anything for them.

    Thanks for the connection. I love how we are all living the same lives.

    What about your calling? Do you have to do much for it?
    I'm the RS pres and it totally gets in the way of my facebooking.

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  25. You are being temperate for your audience. Are you trying to spare them the real reality? What about explosive tinkle on the kitchen stool? What about the hours Ellen spends on the phone with me? What about THE DOG?! What about Activity Committee meetings?!

    In my perfect world, there is always a new episode of Lost, too. And House. Dream on, Kacy. Dream big!

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  26. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  27. WE ARE THE SAME PERSON.

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  28. p.s. I have been known to kick my husband HARD when he hits his snooze button again and again.

    I'M SORRY, but you DON'T GET TO DO THAT when I'm up half the night with the fruits of our loins.

    *KICK*

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  29. In my defense, I'm usually trying to catch up on the sleep I missed because I was trying to balance on the edge of the bed since 85% of a queen-size mattress doesn't seem to fulfill your need for personal space. I write that lovingly and with a renewed commitment to snooze less.

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  30. On this post I left a comment and accidentally said I would be doing anything else but mothering when I meant to say wouldn't be doing anything else but mothering. Anyhow, one of your readers, Angela, went to my blog and said that was mean. I just want her to know I love mothering and that was totally a typo. I deleted the comment so I wouldn't get anymore hate mail :)

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  31. i could just cut and paste your daily into my daily... thanks for the validation! :)

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  32. Hallelujah. Especially today when I have done nothing but hit refresh on Facebook and eat chocolate-covered raisins while my children run amok (because I feel lousy today - usually I'd be a little more productive...like I'd only check Facebook twice).

    I have been telling my husband since day #2 of child #1 that I am taking (at least) a year off when our last child leaves home. Don't expect me to do anything unless I want to. And even then, I will take my time.

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  33. In my perfect world it is last week and we still got paid to blog.

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  34. Song in my head now...

    You're not alone,
    Say it one more time,
    I'm not alone......

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  35. Uh, that chicks kids nap for 3 hours and then she puts them back to bed two hours after that?!? No wonder she has time to be productive.

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  36. Every time I read or hear that someone has all their kids napping from 2 to 5 everyday I just think what the heck is wrong with me? By 12 my toddler is sacked she is up again by 2 at the latest bed at 8 up at 6...

    oh and my husband does that alarm clock thing - insane!

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  37. i loved reading your day! thanks, dear. ;)

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