A Day in the Life

7:00- The day begins when 5 year old Jack throws open our bedroom door to find out if he can get up yet. The answer is yes (as long as it's past 6:00 AM) but I wonder where his clock is. You know, the one we bought and put right next to his bed so that he could answer this question for himself (critically important when he wakes up at 4:59 AM!)

7:00-8:30- Make coffee, fill milk and juice cups, turn on an episode of The Octonauts, run upstairs to shower and get myself ready for the day, head back downstairs to unload the dishwasher, make breakfast, feed kids (who are not happy about having to take a break from The Octonauts), clean up breakfast, dress both boys, brush kids' teeth (heading to the dentist this morning!), help with shoes and socks, pack a few quiet activities for waiting at the dentist, find kindergarten enrollment form dentist must sign, find address of new dentist, get both kids buckled in the car. Only about 5 minutes behind schedule, despite 17 trips up and down the stairs because I'm not great about remembering everything I need the first (or fifth) time down the stairs. Oh, and 4 breaks to help newly potty trained Miles in the bathroom.

8:40-9:00- Figure out how to get to the new dentist's office. This is made slightly more challenging by 1) unexpected morning traffic and 2) a lot of talking from the backseat..."can we have a song? do you want to play I Spy? I don't WANT to go to the dentist!". Seriously it is never quiet in the car.

9:00-10:30- Dental cleanings for both boys. This is Miles' first visit and he does an awesome job. Honestly, the worst part of the dental visit is filling out 30 minutes of new patient paperwork x2! Thankfully my entire life is in my phone. Do other moms honestly know their husband's work addresses or dental insurance group plan numbers without looking them up?

10:30-11:00- Quick stop at WalMart for 5 things that I forgot to buy when I was there yesterday. My list of 5 turns into 7 when I promise each boy they can pick out a snack. I have found that little boys are starving pretty much all of the time.

11:00-11:30- Slice apples and pour some goldfish into bowls. Send the starving boys and their snacks out onto the deck so that I can make 2 phone calls in peace and quiet. Within 2 minutes they are fighting about where to sit. I am already on the phone so I shoot them my "SHHH!" glare through the window. Luckily they figure it out. Spend 20 minutes on the phone straightening out some homeowner's insurance snafu and scheduling a bulk waste pickup with our garbage company. We replaced the toilet in our master bath and need to get rid of the old one. It has been sitting in our garage for 2 weeks. Ewww. Luckily they can pick it up tomorrow!

11:30-12:00- Take kids for a scooter ride. I am trying to fit in some exercise everyday. Luckily, they are willing helpers here.

12:00-1:00- Make lunch, eat lunch, clean up lunch (this includes vacumming crumbs from under the table for the 2nd time in 4 hours)

1:00-1:30- Read 4 stories about assorted dinosaurs, put Miles down for a nap

1:30-3:00- While Miles is asleep I help Jack write a thank you note to Grandpa for the football Grandpa surprised him with. The downstairs is a hot mess from the busy weekend so I cave and let Jack watch The Land Before Time for the remainder of "quiet time" while I deal with the piles of mail and who-knows-what-else that accumulate on the kitchen table. Start a load of laundry, empty the trash and recycling, call to change the address on Evan's cooking magazine. Just when I think I've changed every possible address, another one sneaks up on me. Cut down the never ending pile of recently unpacked moving boxes to load in the van and drop off at the recycling center.

3:00- Wake Miles up (or he'll never go to bed!). To say he is less than thrilled would be an understatement. Serve a not super-healthy snack, tortilla chips, which helps improve Miles' mood. Make sure everyone uses the bathroom, help with shoes and socks, round up 37 library books, buckle everyone into the car.

4:00-5:15- Visit the library that is thankfully 1 minute from our house. Check out 37 new books. Trail behind Miles as he pulls books from the shelf so that I can quickly reshelve the ones I know we won't want to check out (like the ones in Spanish). Settle the boys with their books at a table in the children's section so that I can speed walk across the library and pick up the book I have on hold. Check everything out, including letting Jack check out all of his books by himself with his own card. This is painstakingly slow, but he is very proud of himself (and there is no one in line behind us, so why not?)

5:15-6:00- Drive home from the library and realize that tomorrow is trash pick up day and that Evan will not arrive home from his business trip until late in the evening. Decide to lighten his load a little by hauling trash and recycling to the curb plus 4 humongous bags of yard clippings. The kids happily ride scooters on the driveway. I catch Miles peeing behind the bushes once. 5 minutes later Jack is doing the same. I think Evan gave them the ok to do this? Have worked up a sweat hauling the trash out which is pathetic...that said, it is 82 degrees and humid. In March. Uh-oh.

6:00-6:30- Make dinner. Evan is in North Carolina for work so we're having spaghetti and garlic bread (one of Jack's favorites, but not so much Evan's). The one upside of Evan's travel is that I always make a super easy dinner when he's out of town. Mac 'n cheese or breakfast for dinner are big hits. I'll save my real cooking for the one who really appreciates it! The kids ask every 30 seconds when dinner will be ready. Yes, they are starving. Again.

6:30-6:45- Kids inhale dinner and 15 minutes after starting... the table, floor, and Miles' chair are a disaster.

6:45-7:30- Herd boys upstairs for a much needed bath. Let them soak and play in the bubbles for a good 30 minutes. Fold a load of laundry and move another load to the dryer. Text Evan about our day. This is the first time we've "talked" all day! Sneak a peek at fb. Wash and dry kids, help with pj's and teeth brushing.

7:30-8:30- Pile two sweet smelling, freshly pj'd boys into our bed for stories. Read 4 of our new library books plus the first chaper of Ralph S. Mouse. Tuck two very tired little boys into bed after making sure all of the necessary animals, blankies, and nightlights are in place. Hang out upstairs for a few minutes to make sure everyone is down for the night. Answer 2 calls for a drink of water and 1 for a last trip to the potty (all Miles).

8:30- Ready to call it a night. Head downstairs to deal with spaghetti cleanup. Load dishwasher, wipe table and counters, wash dishes, vacuum under table for the last time today.

9:00- Consider picking up toys in the family room before Evan gets home from the airport...but decide to just sit instead. Kick a few dominoes and little people out of the way and settle into the couch. Read a few pages of my new library book, check CNN headlines and e-mail.

9:30- Husband finally gets home. Hang out and work on our backlog of DVR shows. By 9:50, we're both falling asleep on the couch!

10:00- Lights out

I'm not sure if this post really has a point...but sometimes these days are so go-go-go that it's almost funny to write it down. And, years from now I will enjoy reading about days like this :)