can i schedule a time to schedule you in?

So I have mentioned that life is crazy being a working mother.  Tonight I had one hour with my kids, and then I had to go to a meeting.  Thank goodness the big one was awake when I got home and I could play with him for a bit before he went down.  Thank goodness he didn't remember that Woody's head had again fallen off and he was on top of the refrigerator "in surgery".

As far as chores go, I got nothing accomplished today.  I take that back, I actually rescheduled 5 appointments for myself and kids because I can't leave work for them like I used to.  Another thank goodness- thank goodness my good friend is the office manager at the pediatricians office.  She has promised that BuzzWoody will be playing upon our arrival, and we were guaranteed the latest appointment. It's hard to take these two anywhere together. The big one is uncontrollable, and the little one wants to crawl.  I find it hard to manage both stages at once. I have the monkey leash for Will (as if) and the sling for Luke.  In a perfect world this will work. I'm sure in my world it will end with me having a monkey tail wrapped around my legs, a baby dangling from a sling, and a knock on the door from child services.

But here I sit, and I can't help but feel like I got nothing accomplished today, and I feel guilty about it.  Laundry is still piled up. The kids clothes, while clean, are still in baskets.  I don't have a clue what I will wear to work tomorrow, partly because I don't know what is clean, and partly because I own only 2 pair of socks, and I'm pretty sure they are both dirty. I imagine I could turn them inside out or wear John's size 12 ones. It has been known to happen. If you tuck the toe in you don't really notice all that much.

My hope for tonight is that I remember to wash my face and set my alarm, and dream of a day when I don't have baby food crusted on my left shoulder, and boogers on my pant legs.

Or maybe it's not.   I think that there is a faint scent of bliss in this stage of life. Maybe that is why everyone says it goes by so fast- we are too busy to just sit back and observe.

My good friend sent me an email about the Bible study I am currently in (and behind on) and it was a blurb from Rick Warren about how to focus your day, and how your quiet time should and can be in the morning.

Rick Warren is a man.  I respect him completely-he is totally inspirational, but he is, in fact, a man. Its like a male OB telling you how labor feels.  Quiet time before the kids get up seems impossible.

My first thought was 'I can totally do this. It will help me get on the treadmill. I can do my Bible study while walking.' light bulb!!!

And then it actually hit me! I missed the whole point. The point is to focus.  How else can we truly get the most out of what we are doing? Whether it's a a short term Bible study or your life, the goal is to focus and appreciate the moment.  That is how you get the most out of it.

 I currently suck at this.

ciao.

random but totally cute pic of my big baby.

scrub a dub

Any mom knows that trying to shower when your kids are around is a nightmare.  Now that Will is a little older he looks at me funny and its starting to make me uncomfortable. I don't know what age I need to stop changing in front of him, but I'm guessing that pointing and laughing at my butt is a subtle sign that it's almost that time.

When I need to get ready on the weekends, I lock my kids in my room with me, turn on Nick Jr, and jump in the shower.  This works for the big one.  He goes into a trance as soon as anything animated comes on.  The little one (who is currently pulling at my pants leg screaming) is not phased by the TV.  So I jump in the shower, and he stands at the glass door banging at me and doing that whine/cry thing. I try and speed up my normal 20 minute shower, and it never fails that I forget something.  Lately, I have been noticing that I have dried conditioner in the folds of my ears.

I couldn't handle it today. I grabbed him- stripped him down and took him in with me. He needed a bath anyway, so I thought that he may like it.  Not so much.

He screamed the whole time (no, the water wasn't too hot) and I tried to wash my hair with one hand. Meanwhile, my left arm was about to fall out from trying to hold an extremely slippery baby. It was literally spasming because it had never been exposed to that much exercise.

I don't work out. Well, I have before, and I intend to do it again some day, but I'm not really consistent in the world of physical activity. My workout today was taking the stairs 4 times.

Needless to say, it didn't go well.  I skipped conditioner all together, and I now have a frizzy puff on top of my head.  He is squeaky clean and smelling of lavender and looking adorable as usual. I look like hell.

The next problem I normally have is drying my hair and doing my makeup. It takes almost 30 minutes to dry all of my hair.  There is a ton of it, and I try not to do it that often, but about every other day it has to be done.  Sometimes if I'm lucky, the kids will play on the floor and watch me or TV, but lately this hasn't been the case.  They have been wanting to sit on the counter in front of me and watch themselves, and slobber up my mirror, turn on my faucet, and chew on my somewhat expensive make up brushes.  The big one brushes his teeth with my toothbrush and toothpaste, and is probably over loaded on fluoride. Whatever- its called picking your battles.  You can eat my toothpaste if you leave my mascara alone.

This used to really stress me out.  After all, I try and keep my things in their place, and when the kids and I leave the bathroom it looks like a tornado went through it.  If they aren't in the bathroom, they are in my closet pulling out all  of my shoes.  Thing I don't get is they never ever touch John's stuff. EVER.

So in my quest to lead a more peaceful and stress free life, I am trying to not let this get under my skin.  I've decided I don't need to go back into my bathroom until this evening, and avoid the whole mess.