A Day In the Life of Me

Lots of people have asked me how I "manage" with Dave gone away to Winnipeg for weeks at a time. People don't seem to understand how I can fit it all in to one day and do what needs to get done. 

I think of single parents, and how they must struggle.  At least I get to look forward to someone coming back to help me out in a few weeks.  Though I don't have the luxury of most single parents I know, who have their kids babysat almost every weekend anyway.  I don't live close enough to my family or Dave's family to have free child care *boo*

So I make do. 

I often hear parents of one child...or (god help me) people with no kids - complaining that they don't have TIME to get things done, or they just couldn't get around to doing something because they were so busy.

Ahem...but.... screw you.  Learn to multi-task and get on with it!

Now this doesn't mean if you have one kid or no kids that you aren't good at time management!  I know some people with 6 kids who are better at managing their time than I am, and I know single people who don't even have a spouse who are better than I am. 

This is just how I do it :)

A typical weekday in my house :

• 6:45am - wake up, get dressed and let Dexter out for a pee so he can stop crossing his little doggy legs.  (trying to NOT disturb Kady who, by 4am, has crawled into bed with me)

• 7:00am - get Kady's clothes (that were laid out the night before) and bring her downstairs to get dressed and start her first of many bowls of cereal.
• 7:15 - wake Jeremy and Dakota up.  Their clothes were already put out for them the night before as well.
• 7:30 - pour a coffee and watch it get cold while I get breakfast for both big kids, and another bowl for miss piggy -er- Kady.

• 7:45 - make lunches for Dakota and Jeremy if I didn't do it the night before.  And refill Kady's cereal bowl lol.
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  8:00 - warm my coffee up, make sure Dakota's homework sheets are all signed, and Jeremy's book bag is in order too.
• 8:15 - brush Dakota's hair into french braids, and help everyone get their things ready to leave.







• 8:30 - walk the kids to school....sometimes this can be a game for them :oP

• 9:05 - walk home with Kady. (and sometimes Krista)
• 9:15 - play outside with Kady (weather permitting) and let Dexter outside again.

• 10:00 - bring Kady inside for a snack, and to try the potty.
• 10:15 - turn on Dora (God no....I'm one of THOSE people - I let my kids watch TV!)  And while Kady watches Dora I do the breakfast dishes! Plus if you know Kady, you know she is obsessed with Dora.

• 10:35 - (Dora is only 20 minutes) pack a cup and some toys and take Kady for a walk.

• 11:45 (ish) - get home from our walk and make some lunch, and try the potty again.
• 12:15 - 12:30 - Kady will usually go down for a nap somewhere in this time frame.

• 12:30 - wash the lunch dishes, sweep and mop the floors in the downstairs bathroom, kitchen, dining room, living room and front hallway, scoop out the kitty litter, wipe down the upstairs bathroom, take Dexter out yet again .....and I can usually find some time for facebook or my blog :) (there is occasionally a day where I do a 90 minute workout while she naps....but that's just once a week so I make adjustments)
• 2:30 - Kady wakes up (yes, she naps for 2 hours, and I love it) She usually wants a snack and to play outside, and to go on her potty - again!

• 3:00 - we walk back to the school to get Dakota and Jeremy.
• 3:20 - get home, and tell Dakota to get her homework done and they both change out of their horrid-don't-get-me-started-on-this-topic- uniforms.
• 3:45 - Dakota's done her homework, they all have a little snack and if it's nice out - go out to play until dinner.
• 4:30 - (sometimes earlier depending on what I'm making) I get Kady to help me in the kitchen with some plastic containers or pretend cooking and I make dinner.
• 5:00 - dinner is normally early for us because of the early bedtime required for Jeremy, and because I have lots to get done after they're ALL in bed!  It just works for us.

• 5:30 - they're all done eating and apparently dying to go back outside.  However if the weather isn't cooperating, they play in the house instead. And sometimes, only sometimes, they actually get along!!

• 6:00 - I am able to catch 10 minutes of the news some days, and if they're still getting along I will rinse and stack the dinner dishes so they're easier to do later. And if I'm feeling extra lazy tired, I can just throw all the silverware in a cup full of soapy water and do it in the morning!(Thanks Jade)
• 6:15 - One kid gets a shower.  I'm pretty much doing separate showers every night.  With Dave gone the days of the 2 big ones having their showers and then Kady getting her little bubble bath are just not happening.
• 6:45 - Get the kids to help tidy up their toys, and head upstairs to get them ready for bed.
• 7:00 - Jeremy or Kady change into PJ's  - whoever didn't have their shower I guess.(Kota has a later bedtime so I cut her some slack) and they all brush their teeth.

• 7:30 - Jeremy's TV is turned off (he's allowed tv in his from from 7-730 every night) and he gets tucked in, while Kady is (yes again) watching Dora and I am getting all 3 kids clothes ready for the next day.
• 8:00 - Kota gets PJ's, Kady's TV goes off (she refuses to sleep as early as Jeremy does anyway, and it's not her TV, she sleeps in our room)
• 8:30 - Dakota's TV goes off, Kady should be sleeping, so I get changed and pop in a p90x dvd.

• 10:00 - I throw a load of laundry in the washer, and wash the dinner dishes as well.
• 10:20 - I add fabric softener (thanks for getting me hooked on that waste of money mom!) and I set my coffee maker up for the morning.  Then some nights I'll get the kids lunches ready and put them in the fridge.
• 10:40 - put the clothes into the dryer, head upstairs and shower because p90x = sweating like a porn star.  Yep, I said it.
• 11:00 - after showering, drying and straightening my hair, I take Dexter out for another bathroom break, and then it's time to get some sleep, until Kady or Jeremy wakes up crying.

So there you have it.  That is how my day usually goes - unless it's Thursday which messes things up a bit because I want to watch Grey's and I'm too cheap for PVR!!!

Having been a stay at home mom, and a working mom, and a mom that went to college and worked at the same time I must say that for ME staying at home full time is the most rewarding and fun.  I won't say the most tiring, or the most difficult, or stressful....I have time to get everything done during the day AND spend time with my kids.  I don't really look forward to the future when I have to try and get all this done while working 8 +hours a day!!!

And now, since it's past my 11:00pm bedtime....goodnight :)