A Day in the Life

There have been those who have asked me what I do all day. They asked in a curious-about-what-my-job-entails kind of way not a condescending what-are-you-worth? sort of way. I always find it difficult to answer. I think that's mainly due to the fact that a mother's work is never done. It is a rare event when I can call a job "done" for more than a few minutes. Thus it's hard for me to list what I do all day, since there is no list of what is done. Today I have made an effort to record the doings of my life. I think today was a reasonably typical car day. Non-car days are pretty different in some ways. Every day in motherhood is different, but somethings are always the same. For instance, lunch time is without exception hectic. Without further babbling, this is what I do all day.

8:00 Alena wakes me up because there are no clean panties in her drawer. (She dresses herself, most of the time before I even wake up.) I head downstairs where there are three clean but unfolded loads of laundry to find her some. On the way the creaking of the floor boards wakes Reasor, so I grab him and take him along for the pantie hunt.

8:00-8:40 Change diaper, dress Reasor, feed Reasor. (Changing Reasor's diaper and clothes involves a wrestling match. Good thing he's a light-weight) Dress self. Entreat semi-successfully that Alena eat something in order to stave off a mid-run breakdown in about 30 mintues. She eats half a banana and one spoonful of cereal.

8:40-9:20 Set up playpen, fill with toys, insert Reasor for safe entertainment while I run. Turn on Sesame Street for Alena. Insert headphones with general conference. Do speed work on the treadmill until at 21 minutes Alena kicks Reasor over through the mesh wall of the playpen. Comfort Reasor. Alena's mid-run break down occurs during the comforting upon which she screams for 7 minutes. Finish my run (during the breakdown).

9:20-10:40 Nurse Reasor to sleep while checking email, put him down for a nap, take a shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, do makeup, leave hair wet because Reasor wakes up. Feed Reasor. (Yes, that's three meals for him before 10:40). Change diaper. Pack diaper bag, tell Alena it's time to go to the Library. She informs me she hasn't yet eaten breakfast. I grab something she can eat in the car.

10:40-12:15 Drive to Library, attend Spanish story time (fun!), drive home. Discover that my system to carry more than humanly possible is ineffective when one of those things is an umbrella.

12:15-1:30 Change diaper, empty diaper pail, feed Alena, feed Reasor, feed Alena some more, feed Reasor some more, feed me, feed Reasor. (Reasor is in the habit of putting everything on his tray into his mouth before chewing and swallowing, this necessitates several trays of only a mouthful of food.) Breakfast and lunch dishes. Feed Reasor. Assemble pot roast Kevin so kindly thawed. Do so while listening and responding to constant chatter from Alena and stepping over 6 toys she has brought for me to play with in the kitchen and around 2 stools she had brought in there in order to eat at the counter. (One for lunch, one for Breakfast.) Another tray to Reasor. Clean off Reasor and high chair, sweep floor beneath him. Change his diaper. (That's three stinky ones before 1:00 PM.) Wrestle him back into clothes. (He eats in his birthday suit since it's more easily washable than his clothing, and I never have to fold it.) Spend 60 seconds looking for his other sock only to find it in his mouth. Hehehe. Clean up after the roast preparation. Unclog kitchen sink with a plunger. Clean and disinfect sink. Continue responding to Alena, eating pretend food, making pretend phone calls, stepping over all of the "friends" who have come to help me cook. Reward a successful potty break. (Yipee!) Start a batch of dough in the breadmaker with Alena's help counting and pouring. Clean up after that while holding Reasor who has become fussy.

1:30-2:00 Put Reasor down for a nap, help Alena put away the toys she has gotten out, return various things Reasor has moved about the house to their places (ie: pantry items, measuring cups, magnetic letters, mega blocks, board books, and burp cloths). Read Alena a story and put her in quiet time.

2:00-3:10 Read Sunday school lesson, respond to email, read blogs, update status on facebook, start composing blog post.

3:10-3:30 Nurse and cuddle while listening to Alena sing primary songs from quiet time. Sigh happily.

3:30-4:00 Turn bread dough into crescent rolls while discussing with Alena where Grandma Wanda's "dad" (aka husband) is. Talk about when and why he will be resurrected. Color in a coloring book with her. Change diaper. Cheer for successful potty break.

4:00-4:20 Get in the car. (Mom was right. It does take 20 mintues to get in the car.)

4:20-6:00 Go to Sam's Club. (Number of items purchased: 3. Number of samples: 7) Pick up Daddy at work, stop by the Publix to rent a movie. (No Netflix for us.) Stop by library, because, as is tradition, they sent me the email saying I had a book ready to pick up immediately after I get home from the library. Go home. Change diaper.

6:00-7:30 Put rolls in oven, make gravy, set table, eat dinner (4 trays for Reasor, 3 beverage refills for Alena), resolve to have pot roast more often, do dishes, reward successful potty break.

7:30-8:30 Nurse, cuddle, watch movie, color in coloring book.

8:30-9:30 Give 2 children snacks, 1.75 children baths. (Kevin washed Alena's hair. On second thought that probably counts as half a bath not just a quarter.) Lotion, diaper, dress, and nurse baby. Put him to bed. Oversee the dressing, teeth brushing, and hair, combing of girlie. Read a story, have family scriptures and family prayer (minus baby, who couldn't handle the 30 minutes off of schedule and fell asleep at 9:00 on the dot). Hug, sing songs, cuddle, and put girlie to bed. "Good night. Sweet dreams. I love you. See you in the morning."

9:30-10:15 Finish the movie. Have a bowl of cereal. Cuddle with my man.

10:15-11:10 Finish blog post. Check email, and facebook. Nurse baby back to sleep.

At press time, the three loads of clean laundry are still downstairs unfolded.