I have to admit, this week was hard. I am worn out. I am exhausted. I am not looking forward to a busy weekend!
Not only did I look after the kids I normally have during the week, I took on the stress of a few extra.
Why you ask??
Why you ask??
Because I can't say no. I think I can handle way more than my body is capable of handling.
I am going to run through a single day this week to help illustrate what I'm talking about.
We do spice it up with different after school activities the kids have from day to day but for the most part, it's pretty much the same. By the end of the week...I am done. Then I only have two days to get rested for the next week.
Repeat after me...N-O.
I think I need to learn how to say that word!
I am going to run through a single day this week to help illustrate what I'm talking about.
6:00 am: Kyleigh (4 yrs. old) arrives. I take a sleeping child from her dad's arms and put her in bed with Cody. I then head back to our room to feed the baby who is beginning to stir.
6:20 am: The baby falls back to sleep so I try and catch a few extra minutes of sleep myself.
6:35 am: The alarm goes off and I have to wake TJ up so he can get ready for work
7:00 am: McKinly, (10) Ty (7), and Hope (10) show up. Ty heads to his room to get back in bed, McKinly goes into her room, and Hope curls up on the couch.
7:20 am: Cody notices Kyleigh is here so he thinks it's a great idea to wake her up. They head to my room to see if they're allowed to get up.
7:45 am: Laney (5) and her little brother, Brady (1) show up. It's also the time I have to wake the older kids up so I can start getting them ready for school.
8:00 am: While the older kids are getting dressed I start breakfast. I don't do anything too extravagant here, I'm talking cereal or poptarts...who has time for a hot breakfast, we have to leave in thirty minutes.
8:20 am: We are running late (we are every morning). I finish fixing McKinly's and Ty's hair and have them rush in the kitchen to shovel their breakfast in their mouth.
8:25ish am: McKinly and Ty grab their lunches from the fridge (I thankfully packed them the night before) and then they start gathering the little kids together.
8:30 am: The older kids help the younger kids into the car while I go and get the babies up (Cole and Cade). Cade starts asking for "toasss" (toast). He starts crying because he doesn't understand he has to wait until we get back from taking the kids to school in order for him to eat.
8:40 am: We're ten minutes behind schedule. It doesn't matter what time I shoot for, we never leave earlier than 8:40. The kids have to be there by 8:55 and we usually arrive at 8:59!! Good thing they aren't tardy until 9!! On Fridays we try and rush as fast as we can because the kids get to do the "Cha Cha Slide" during their "Rise and Shine" thing the school does as a group every morning.
9:15 am: Me, Laney, Brady, Kyleigh, Cody, Cade, and Cole arrive back home. Cady (1) and her mom are waiting in the driveway for us.
9:30 am: Laney and Cody decide they want a real breakfast so I make all the kids a hot meal. Only half of them eat it and the majority of the food is wasted. You never know which ones are going to eat though, it changes from day to day. Sometimes they all will eat and then there are the days no one eats. There is never a good estimate on how much food to actually make.
10:00 am: I clean up from breakfast while the kids go play. This is usually the time Cole needs to be fed as well.
10:30 am: The kids come in asking for a snack. Never fails, almost always at 10:30 on the dot!
11:00 am: I start getting the masses dressed for the day. This is the hardest part. There are so many diapers to change and layers of clothes to put on...it drives me nuts! Everyone shows up in their pajamas because they arrive so early that it takes a good thirty minutes to get this job done.
11:30 am: Start lunch. While lunch is cooking I go and fix Laney's hair. She is in afternoon Kindergarten so she must look presentable.
12:00 pm: Serve lunch. There are so many one year olds and only one high chair. They are sitting at the table on phone books and Bumbo chairs. Poor kids!
12:20 pm: Laney and Brady get picked up
12:30 pm: I clean up from lunch, the kids clean up all the toys they have been playing with all morning.
1:00 pm: Nap Time!! The best time of the day! All the kids go down pretty easy. Cody and Kyleigh get to watch Noggin in his room for their "rest" time.
2:00 pm: Kyleigh gets picked up. I continue quietly cleaning the house the best I can.
3:00 pm: Get the rest of the kids up from their naps and in the car.
3:20 pm: Arrive at Laney's school so I can grab her and head over to the other kid's school to get them.
3:45 pm: Arrive at the other school to pick McKinly, Ty, Hope and Hayden (7) up. Ty hurries and changes in the car for Tae Kwon Do.
4:00 pm: Drop Ty off at Tae Kwon Do.
4:10 pm: Arrive home so the kids can all start their homework. (Thankfully T.J. is usually home by this time to help out)
4:15 pm: They are all asking for a snack. They all want something different.
4:40 pm: Hayden gets picked up...on most days, sometimes he stays until 6.
4:45 pm: Pick Ty up from Tae Kwon Do, have him change for soccer practice...in the car again, while eating a snack so he has some energy for practice.
5:00 pm: Drop Ty and Hope off at the practice fields. On most days, Cathy will meet T.J. or me at the fields to get her crew so we bring McKinly along too so she can go home with her mom.
5:15 pm: Back at home trying to get Cody ready for his baseball game while feeding him something to eat to hold him over until dinner.
5:30 pm: Laney and Cady are picked up, our three boys are in the car and we head out to Cody's baseball game.
6:00 pm: Game starts, T.J. stays with the little ones while I go and work the dugout. When the boys go out to the field, T.J. goes out there with Cody and I stay with the little kiddos.
7:00 pm: Game over and we head home to eat, bathe the boys and get them ready for bed!!
8:30 pm: Boys are fed, bathed and in their pajamas.
9:00 pm: Bedtime for Cody and Cade. Cole is usually asleep around this time as well.
9:00 pm - 11:00 pm: I clean the house, pack T.J., McKinly, and Ty's lunches for the next day, catch up on e-mails and blogs, maybe fold a load of laundry.
11:00 pm: Wake Cole up to feed him his last bottle for the night.
11:20 pm: I get into bed myself so I can beslightly rested in order to wake up at 6:00 am and do this all over again.
6:20 am: The baby falls back to sleep so I try and catch a few extra minutes of sleep myself.
6:35 am: The alarm goes off and I have to wake TJ up so he can get ready for work
7:00 am: McKinly, (10) Ty (7), and Hope (10) show up. Ty heads to his room to get back in bed, McKinly goes into her room, and Hope curls up on the couch.
7:20 am: Cody notices Kyleigh is here so he thinks it's a great idea to wake her up. They head to my room to see if they're allowed to get up.
No, go back to sleep it's way too early!!!
But I don't say that because what's the point, I'm about to start getting everyone ready for school!
7:45 am: Laney (5) and her little brother, Brady (1) show up. It's also the time I have to wake the older kids up so I can start getting them ready for school.
8:00 am: While the older kids are getting dressed I start breakfast. I don't do anything too extravagant here, I'm talking cereal or poptarts...who has time for a hot breakfast, we have to leave in thirty minutes.
8:20 am: We are running late (we are every morning). I finish fixing McKinly's and Ty's hair and have them rush in the kitchen to shovel their breakfast in their mouth.
8:25ish am: McKinly and Ty grab their lunches from the fridge (I thankfully packed them the night before) and then they start gathering the little kids together.
8:30 am: The older kids help the younger kids into the car while I go and get the babies up (Cole and Cade). Cade starts asking for "toasss" (toast). He starts crying because he doesn't understand he has to wait until we get back from taking the kids to school in order for him to eat.
8:40 am: We're ten minutes behind schedule. It doesn't matter what time I shoot for, we never leave earlier than 8:40. The kids have to be there by 8:55 and we usually arrive at 8:59!! Good thing they aren't tardy until 9!! On Fridays we try and rush as fast as we can because the kids get to do the "Cha Cha Slide" during their "Rise and Shine" thing the school does as a group every morning.
9:15 am: Me, Laney, Brady, Kyleigh, Cody, Cade, and Cole arrive back home. Cady (1) and her mom are waiting in the driveway for us.
9:30 am: Laney and Cody decide they want a real breakfast so I make all the kids a hot meal. Only half of them eat it and the majority of the food is wasted. You never know which ones are going to eat though, it changes from day to day. Sometimes they all will eat and then there are the days no one eats. There is never a good estimate on how much food to actually make.
10:00 am: I clean up from breakfast while the kids go play. This is usually the time Cole needs to be fed as well.
10:30 am: The kids come in asking for a snack. Never fails, almost always at 10:30 on the dot!
11:00 am: I start getting the masses dressed for the day. This is the hardest part. There are so many diapers to change and layers of clothes to put on...it drives me nuts! Everyone shows up in their pajamas because they arrive so early that it takes a good thirty minutes to get this job done.
11:30 am: Start lunch. While lunch is cooking I go and fix Laney's hair. She is in afternoon Kindergarten so she must look presentable.
12:00 pm: Serve lunch. There are so many one year olds and only one high chair. They are sitting at the table on phone books and Bumbo chairs. Poor kids!
12:20 pm: Laney and Brady get picked up
12:30 pm: I clean up from lunch, the kids clean up all the toys they have been playing with all morning.
1:00 pm: Nap Time!! The best time of the day! All the kids go down pretty easy. Cody and Kyleigh get to watch Noggin in his room for their "rest" time.
2:00 pm: Kyleigh gets picked up. I continue quietly cleaning the house the best I can.
3:00 pm: Get the rest of the kids up from their naps and in the car.
3:20 pm: Arrive at Laney's school so I can grab her and head over to the other kid's school to get them.
3:45 pm: Arrive at the other school to pick McKinly, Ty, Hope and Hayden (7) up. Ty hurries and changes in the car for Tae Kwon Do.
4:00 pm: Drop Ty off at Tae Kwon Do.
4:10 pm: Arrive home so the kids can all start their homework. (Thankfully T.J. is usually home by this time to help out)
4:15 pm: They are all asking for a snack. They all want something different.
They are not getting something different. They can have what I put on the table or nothing at all...it's their choice!
4:40 pm: Hayden gets picked up...on most days, sometimes he stays until 6.
4:45 pm: Pick Ty up from Tae Kwon Do, have him change for soccer practice...in the car again, while eating a snack so he has some energy for practice.
5:00 pm: Drop Ty and Hope off at the practice fields. On most days, Cathy will meet T.J. or me at the fields to get her crew so we bring McKinly along too so she can go home with her mom.
5:15 pm: Back at home trying to get Cody ready for his baseball game while feeding him something to eat to hold him over until dinner.
5:30 pm: Laney and Cady are picked up, our three boys are in the car and we head out to Cody's baseball game.
6:00 pm: Game starts, T.J. stays with the little ones while I go and work the dugout. When the boys go out to the field, T.J. goes out there with Cody and I stay with the little kiddos.
7:00 pm: Game over and we head home to eat, bathe the boys and get them ready for bed!!
8:30 pm: Boys are fed, bathed and in their pajamas.
9:00 pm: Bedtime for Cody and Cade. Cole is usually asleep around this time as well.
9:00 pm - 11:00 pm: I clean the house, pack T.J., McKinly, and Ty's lunches for the next day, catch up on e-mails and blogs, maybe fold a load of laundry.
11:00 pm: Wake Cole up to feed him his last bottle for the night.
11:20 pm: I get into bed myself so I can be
We do spice it up with different after school activities the kids have from day to day but for the most part, it's pretty much the same. By the end of the week...I am done. Then I only have two days to get rested for the next week.
Repeat after me...N-O.
I think I need to learn how to say that word!
4 comments:
OMG I'm exhausted after reading that. How on Earth do to do that every day?? I'm worried about handling one baby, a dog, and a job. You just earned all of the respect I can possibly give a person. Oh...and it is OK to say "no". I've been a yes person for years and I'm finally starting to say no to things and it is wonderful!!!
I don't know how you do it....seriously! Hope you guys are well!!
I think you need a bigger car so everyone can buckle up. Those are some crazy days you have there!
I have always thought your schedule was crazy! And I've told you for YEARS you need to learn how to say NO!!!!
Post a Comment