This quote could not be more true. I am 36. Yes, I just gave my age away. I used to be so proud that I looked nowhere near that number but lately I've aged about 10 years in two months. It happens and I am ok with that, I knew it was coming one day. I've started to be really careful about making sure I moisturize and use good eye cream and have started using a wrinkle serum. We will call that preventative but I would be lying if I didn't say that I was noticing more "activity" around the eyes lately. I have to get my hair done more often. We will just say it grows faster now. THANK GOD for Jason Chambers at HeadDress. I have now been married a decade and have three beautiful children and it seems like just yesterday I was in college and fully functional on two hours of sleep after about 12 hours of drinking at Gallette's. Now I am "functional" on two hours of sleep because I have to be with a newborn, 2 year old and 7 year old. Someone constantly needs to eat, is crying because of a nightmare or falls out of the bed. There is always, ALWAYS something happening to insure that I do not get 8 straight hours of sleep in one night. I adjust.
We wake up for the day at 6am. Sometimes I am up at 4:30 and try to take a nap but it doesn't really work. Sometimes 5:30 but always by 6. The baby needs to eat, the toddler needs to be changed and fed and the 7 year old needs a school uniform. After we get the uniform we go on the hunt for the shoes because no matter how many times I say "put your shoes where they belong" it just never sinks in. Where's the belt? Did you have breakfast? Are your teeth brushed? Hair brushed? Where is your sweatshirt? School fleece? I need your lunch box and snack bag. Did you get your gym bag that I packed last night? Do you have your backpack ready? Did you let the dogs out? Did you make your bed? Stop watching TV and get ready! Hurry and brush your teeth! We are leaving in 45 seconds.......Great! We are late again.......
That is just the hour and a half that we are all home in the morning. Daddy takes big kid to school then I sweep in to overdrive making sure dishes are done, laundry is started, house is straightened and kids are fed breakfast. IF I am going to get a shower in the morning I have about a 10 minute window between doing all that while my coffee gets cold and then getting the toddler ready for moms day out, the baby ready to take him and myself dressed because it is often frowned upon to wear your old man flannel pajamas and need to replace fuzzy slippers to take your child to his nursery school. IF I am lucky I will have time to take the baby for a walk in the neighborhood across the street at drop off and get a few minutes of exercise. Then we rush off to run errands. Usually things like picking up dog food, something big brother needs for school or a last minute gift I forgot to get someone. Oh, then maybe I need to grab something the hubs doesn't have time to grab, swing by the store to get a casserole for the friend who just had a baby, lost a loved one, had surgery, etc. Drop that by their house, stuff for the hubs by his office, dash home to feed the baby and shove a salad in my mouth while standing up and fly out the door again to pick up the toddler by 1.
We now have an hour to run errands because I cannot take them home since we have to be at the next carpool by 2 in order to not have to wait 30 minutes in the line. Usually these errands are the dash in type or drive through like running by Claude Moore or the dry cleaner. We are in the carpool line by 2 PM like clock work then we sit for 30 minutes waiting for the 2nd grade to come out. During this 30 minutes, without fail the baby will need to be fed, the toddler will start screaming like I am beating him and I will be telling myself to stay calm and maybe they will stop. When we get home around 2:45 then the afternoon meltdowns start. The baby gets fed, the toddler gets a snack and put down for a nap which sometimes he is fine with and other times he screams like the house is on fire. The big kid then starts asking NON STOP what he can have to eat. Homework gets done, baby gets fed, laundry gets folded and dinner gets started. If I have time I will peel an orange which I will eat standing up. If I am lucky after a couple of hours of whining and screaming and crying my husband will come home from work- if he does not have a business dinner- and the kids will stop everything they are doing to rush to daddy so very happy to see him as the baby pukes on whatever it is I have on at the moment which is usually a t-shirt and yoga pants or running tights. Oh, and all the while I have been working too. I work for myself so I'm doing that while all this is going on.
Now that daddy is home and all is well with the world as far as the kids are concerned the evening routine can start. Daddy puts on comfy clothes that resemble what mommy has been in all day because mommy can't get dressed and then he puts on the iPad. Kitchen dance party time. My 2 year old does love it when a beat drops. This usually happens while I am still trying to cook dinner, fold laundry and keep a baby happy. Clearly we all have to be in whatever room I am working on at the time because I can't do anything alone. Speaking of that, every time I have gotten to go to the bathroom I have had a toddler in there with me and a 7 year old trying to walk in to see if he can have something else to eat. I'm lucky if I can potty without a toddler on my lap. No, I am not joking. Dinner gets served, kids complain, toddler throws his food to the dogs. I am not joking. Wish I was joking. I clean up the dishes, feed the baby, get the water ready for the toddlers bath. Husband sweeps in and bathes him then I get to wrestle with him for 15 minutes trying to get him back in a diaper and in to his footies. Then he gets put down for bed but since he is a little OCD we have to get his milk, put him in bed, give him the milk then cover him in his favorite blanket- in that order- or he freaks out. I then bathe the baby, dress the baby, feed the baby while the big kid is getting in the shower. Baby goes in his swing and big kid goes to bed. IF I am lucky I can get a cup of tea. I straighten up around the couch. My husband and I sit down and turn on the TV. It's usually between 8 and 9 now and I have been on my feet for at least 14-15 hours if not more. I am exhausted but try to stay awake because around 10 we have to feed the dogs, let the dogs out, get ready for bed, check on other two kids, feed the baby, put on pajamas, wash face, brush teeth, etc then turn out the light. It's now almost 11. That is my day. Everyday. They all run together. I'm fine with that because I am lucky to be able to do it and I adore my children but even I need a break every now and then.
Do you ever wonder why moms, especially moms with multiple children are always so jealous of their friends who get to go to nice dinners or out for cocktails or out of the house in general? I'll tell you why. I am lucky if I get to look like a normal human and put on jeans or makeup. I don't know what to do with myself if I have time to blow dry my hair. When I get let out of my cage and get to have a couple glasses of wine I am ecstatic. I will likely stay out until midnight (GASP) not so much because I want to drink, but because I get to talk to grown ups. I get to have adult conversation and catch up with my friends face to face not using emoji to express emotions like surprise or laughing.
Every now and then I get to take a breath and look at my kids. My big kid has turned in to this little adult that I am so proud of and he is a GREAT role model for his two younger brothers. In that brief moment I think back to when he was born, his first steps, the look of surprise in his face on his second christmas and those little moments that you don't really think about when you are in them but when you see photos they are the best memories. I think how fast his feet have grown and how tall he is when just yesterday he was in newborn clothes. And that is when I realize that although the days drag and beat me down it is so worth it because the years go so fast that if you blink your kids are grown and gone. I really need to learn to slow down a little more and be more present in the present before it becomes the past.........
