Just Another Day in Paradise

What does a stay-at-home mom do all day? Good question. I'm going to jot down everything I do today, to show you what's typical. This could be long - maybe you should go get a snack.

5:00 am - Samuel wakes up early. I listen to him scream for 15 minutes, then get up, change him, and bring him to bed with me. He hugs me.
5:45 - He is still awake, so I go get him a sippy cup of milk. At least he'll be quiet, and maybe I can get a few more minutes of sleep.
6:05 - He's not quiet anymore. He keeps poking me in the face and saying "Ma! Ma!" I take him to his room. He screams.
6:15 - Sally gets up and tells me she'll go sing to Samuel. I thank God for her and go to sleep.
6:30 - My alarm goes off. I hit snooze.
6:40 - My alarm goes off. I get up, get Sally cereal, start coffee. I get the dog out of the garage, turn on the dryer for 15 minutes (last night's load is still in there) and grab a basket. I feed the dog and put him outside. I make myself a cup of coffee (ahh) and make Sally's lunch. I pick out Sally's outfit and tell her to get dressed. I kiss Stuart goodbye and tell him to have a good day.
7:00 - I get a shower, get dressed, change Samuel's diaper, get him dressed. I brush Sally's hair and put it in a ponytail. I tell her to brush her teeth and find a jacket. I finish getting myself ready. I load the empty basket with dirty clothes, and put it by the door to the garage.
7:40 - We walk Sally to school.
8:10 - I return home with Samuel; I bring in the empty garbage cans (yesterday was trash day) and the newspaper.
8:12 - I let myself blog for 5 minutes. (yeah - creative freedom!)
8:17 - I set up the pack and play (playpen) because Mia is coming today and make my bed. I stop Samuel from cleaning the toilet. I start a new load of laundry. I change Samuel's diaper - this takes me awhile, because it is down both legs and he needs new clothes.
8:40 - I fold the clothes that I washed yesterday and put them away. I play with Samuel, chase him around the house a bit, kiss him, tickle him. I give him a banana and more cheerios and another cup of milk.
9:30 - Samuel goes to bed for an early nap. I make myself an omlette (brunch for today since I missed breakfast) and enjoy the quiet.
9:45 - Mia arrives. I play with her for a bit, tickle her, hug her. She's such a sweetie!
10:00 - Mia goes to bed for a nap. I clean up the kitchen, put the laundry in the dryer, talk to Stuart on the phone. I do some paperwork for Sally's teacher.
10:45 - I take a blog break and check my email. I make a few phone calls.
11:00 - I wake up the kiddos, load them into the stroller, and go get Sally from school.
11:30 - Back home! I start Sally on her homework, change Samuel's diaper, get Mia some lunch, get Sally some lunch, find Samuel and give him some lunch. My sister calls, so I talk to her while I feed the kids. I get the glitter gels for Sally to finish decorating her turkey feather for school tomorrow. I help Sally fix her glitter because she has it too thick and it will never dry. I clean up the kids and their lunch. I set up a fan to dry Sally's feather. I put Samuel's carseat back together - this takes me awhile because it is complicated (it had to be washed and air-dried, so all the straps are off) and because he keeps helping me. I change Mia's diaper. I tell Sally to pick up her shoes. I get Samuel out of the carseat (he's stuck).
12:55 - I reward myself with 5 mins. of blog writing & reading. My 5 minutes are cut short because Samuel needs to be changed - Sally informs me he smells bad.
12:58 - I change Samuel's diaper. I play with Mia and Samuel in his room. Sally wants to do a puzzle, so we pick one out and get it set up.
1:30 - I put Mia and Samuel to bed for an afternoon nap. Sally and I work on the puzzle and watch "Hercules".
2:30 - Mia is up already. We play with her. We have an afternoon snack. I clean up the kitchen.
3:45 - Samuel gets up. I get him a snack, change Mia's diaper, help Sally with her computer. I unload the clothes in the dryer and start folding. I go and hang up a few shirts, and I put the playpen away. Mia and Samuel have followed me, and Samuel goes right for my toilet brush. I help him clean it, since he loves it, and we go finish the folding.
4:45 - Mia's dad comes and picks her up. Sally wants to play playdough, so we get it out. This is Samuel's first time. He loves it. I play with them for awhile. Stuart calls, and I talk to him while I clean up the playdough mess and Sally and Samuel watch an episode of SpongeBob. I start dinner - we always have leftovers on Thursdays because it's Stu's softball night, and I never know if he's going to eat here or after his game. So dinner's pretty easy tonight. I make some soup for the kids and feed them. I eat a salad. Stuart gets here and we eat together. We all relax and watch some tv. I want to watch a movie I TiVo-ed earlier today, so I send Stuart and Sally to our room to watch some Jackie Chan movie they are into, and I watch "Alex & Emma", a sappy but entertaining love story. I play with Samuel while I watch - I set up the blocks and he knocks them down. Then we play a little catch. I have to stop the movie twice to change Samuel. He ends up falling asleep on me.
8:30 - I carry Samuel to bed, and find that Sally has fallen asleep on my bed. Stuart puts her to bed and takes off for his softball game. I channel surf for a bit, then start cleaning up the family room. Toys, clothes, mail, cups of milk - they all seem to reproduce in this room. I go change into jammies, and wonder why I am so tired and have accomplished so little today.
9:30 - Post my last blog and talk to my sister on the phone for a bit. My last thing to do tonight is to clean the kitchen and get ready for bed. Hopefully I'll get to read a little before I go to sleep. I'm pretty tired though . . . .