Reality Check

I don't know where September went. I thought for sure that once Evie and William were back in school, things would ease up a little bit. And then I woke up.

Fantasy: I'll wake up at 5:45, grab a cup of coffee & get my exercise finished before getting the kids up for school. I'll have had some time for myself & will feel accomplished that I've gotten it out of the way so early.

Reality: Sarah is getting up at 6am, if not earlier (which of course makes her miserable by 11.) I find it difficult to get her settled & get down to the basement for my workout in enough time to be finished before the others need to be up. Matt seems able to manage it better, on the mornings he's at home, and he helps me fit it in. I just wish she'd sleep later & then it would be 'me' time.

Fantasy: Evie and William will be off to school and I will have time with the little ones to run errands, play with them, we'll have lunch together; they will nap for 2 hours and I will have some peace and quiet before E&W get off the bus.

Reality: Not much other than the errands is getting done because Sarah and Jason are constantly getting into things & needing to be rescued, asking for help with something, fighting with each other over a toy, wanting a snack of some sort, or helping themselves to Lucky Charms and scattering them all over the house.

He KNOWS he doesn't belong up there!

Reality Part 2: Sarah is starting to give up her naps. I figured this was coming. I've known all along, in the ironic world I live in, that I would get William off to all-day kindergarten and then Sarah would give up her nap. Here we are, September 26, and she took 2 naps this week. Which, as you all know, is causing her head to completely rotate around by lunchtime. Yesterday she actually passed out on the floor before lunch while I was vacuuming. I tried to move her upstairs, but no, that 10 minutes was her nap. Joy.

Click HERE if you're curious about what's in the background

Fantasy: I've created a craft area in the basement where I will accomplish SO much while the little ones play in the wonderland that is the playroom!

Reality: Sarah and Jason have a 5 minute attention span. Playing in the basement means getting one thing out after another and scattering it all over the floor; Jason climbing up in my lap to see whatever it is that I'm doing; carrying handfuls of toys from downstairs to upstairs, and finally losing interest in the playroom after 15 minutes total. I guess the solution would be for me to make sure that any project I start can be completed in a 5 minute time span during which time I may or may not have Jason in my lap 'helping'. I'm putting off the jewelry making class at the art studio indefinitely.

Fantasy: During S&J's 2 hour nap, I will have plenty of time to finish the projects I've started, write witty & thoughtful blog posts about my family so I have a record of everything for some later day, and read all the blogs I like to visit each day.

Reality: Sarah's naps are dwindling which gives me maybe 45 minutes a day to do whatever it is that I can't get to while they are up. Which is why those 4 pots of flowers from Lowes that I picked up 4 weeks ago are still sitting in their pots, in the same spot I left them, rather than being planted where they are destined to go. Because after dealing with S&J all morning, all I want to do in that 45 minutes is SIT. or maybe close my eyes. or (gasp) doze off for 20 minutes. Now THAT is a fantasy :)

So there you have it, my day in a nutshell. It would really be helpful if I could become a Cullen not need to sleep. Just THINK about how much I could get accomplished.