A List of Sorts

I want to make a list.
I want to make a list things I want to buy.
I want to make a list of things I do everyday.
I want to make a list of places I want to go.
I just want to make some lists.

So I thought I'd share.

Today though I want to just give you a rundown of everyday in my life so you can get a feel for just how busy I get.

6:45 a.m. Wake up because Bella is an early riser (unlike anyone else in our family)
6:46 a.m. Pee and then brush my teeth
6:49 a.m. Get Bella from her crib, change her diaper, sit her on my bed while I get dressed.
7:00 a.m. Wake Max up
7:05 a.m. Try and get Max up again, pick out his clothes, bribe him, threaten him, uncover him....anything to get him up
7:15 a.m. Tell Max this is the last time, and then scare him into thinking he's late for school. So mean, but so effective.
7:25 a.m. Make Max and Bella some breakfast, feed it to Bella, call Max's name about 100 times until he comes out of his room fully dressed.
7:50 a.m. Brush teeth, this is a battle with both kids. Max doesn't like the flavor of his tooth paste and Bella doesn't know why I'm torturing her like this, etc..
8:00 a.m. Sit down at the computer, check my email, check my Facebook, remind myself what homework I need to do.
8:30 a.m. Start rounding the kids up to get them out the door. Put the kids in the car, run inside 5 gajillion times because I keep forgetting stuff.
8:38 a.m. Finally drive away from my house to drop Max off at school.
8:44 a.m. Wait outside the door because Max's new teacher refuses to let us in, no matter the weather until EXACTLY 8:45 a.m.
8:50 a.m. Drive to the convenience store on the same street and pick up a Red Bull because by this time I'm ready to crawl back into my bed.
9:00 a.m. Come home, hang out with Bella watching T.V. or playing in her room.
9:30 a.m. Lay Bella down for her nap
9:32 a.m. Do homework, write a blog, check my Facebook and email again.
11:30 a.m. Get Bella out of bed, change her diaper, and put her in the car cause its time to go get Max.
11:40 a.m. Sign Max out of school, drive home, ask Max about his day, gauge his temperament for the rest of the day.
11:50 a.m Make Max and Bella lunch, do the dishes, start a load of laundry.
12:30 p.m. Hang out with the kids, watch a movie with them, play a game.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I leave at 1:00 p.m. for my on campus class.
3:00 p.m. Pick up the house again.
3:35 p.m. Greet my husband when he gets home from work and follow him around the house while he tells me about his day and does the various things he always does right after work.
On Wednesdays at 4:00 p.m. I clean a different house.
6:00 p.m. Figure out what I'm going to be feeding my army for dinner.
6:45 p.m. Serve whatever I've made, do everything I can to get Max to eat his food.
7:15 p.m. Put both kids into the bath and get them out within 7 minutes. Yes, I'm a PRO.
7:22 p.m. Get Bella dressed for bed while Max is getting himself dressed.
7:45 p.m. Put Bella down for bed. Sit on the couch and sigh...one down, one to go.
8:00 p.m. Make Max get into bed against his will. He just wants to play for a little bit longer mom!
8:10 p.m. Sit on my couch and take in the momentary silence.
8:11 p.m. Max wants to hug and kiss me.
8:20 p.m. Get on the computer, check my email, check my Facebook, do some more homework.
8:22 p.m. Max wants another hug and kiss.
8:45 p.m. Max wants another hug and kiss.
9:00 p.m. Give up on my homework for tonight, sit down to watch a show with my husband, get interrupted like a thousand times because Max is stalling on going to sleep.
10:00 p.m. Shower and get into bed to read while Ryan is showering.
10:30 p.m. Out like a light.

In between all of this there is still 7,628,764,918,742 diaper changes, 234,556,398 juice and milk refills, 3,452 phone calls or text messages, visits from friends, 91,284,129,847,129,074 loads of laundry that sometimes aren't even mine because I do my mom and brothers laundry on Sundays and the laundry for the family whose house that I clean on Thursdays. I spend something like 6 hours a week paying bills and doing our budget, 15 hours a week doing homework, 25 hours a week cleaning and re-cleaning my own house, 2.5 hours a week cleaning another house, probably about 4 hours a week keeping my kids from fighting, and about 12 hours a week cooking or feeding them and my husband.

This is my life and I have no complaints. I'm glad that my kids will be able to say that their mom did it all at one point in time and still managed to keep smiling (most of the time haha). I'm glad that I can help people, that I can do something nice for my mom and brothers, and that when I get old I can look back and know that even though I wasn't getting paid in money (most of the time) or working at a company, I was working and getting paid in love and smiles.

However...to anyone who thinks staying at home is lazy or not any work, you must have lost your mind. I've never had a job that worked me more than staying at home with my kids has, nor have I ever had a job that has been more rewarding than this one is and will continue to be.

Talk to you soon,
J