The Daily Grind

My mom told me this week that she's noticed I'm not blogging as much lately. Though she said this over the phone, I'm almost certain she was disguising a smirk as she said it. I'm doing good to make it through the "have to's" these days, much less the "want to's."

Here's a typical weekday for me:
5:30 - feet hit the floor
7:15 - drop the kids off at daycare
7:30 - get to work
8:00 - start seeing kids
8:00 - 2:30 see kids back-to-back with two 15 minute breaks and a 30 minute lunch break
2:30 - tie up loose ends at work, try to get something marked off of my ever-growing task list
4:00 - leave work to pick up the kids at daycare
4:30 - get home and unpack/repack Nola's daycare bag, give Caleb an after-school snack, feed & change Nola, change clothes, etc.
5:00 - Rudy gets home from the gym and I either start on dinner or take care of the kids while he cooks dinner
5:45 - dinner
6:30 - play outside, go for a walk/bike ride through the neighborhood to get a little exercise
7:30 - either give Caleb a bath or get Nola ready for bed while Rudy gives Caleb a bath
8:00 - one of us puts Caleb to bed after brushing teeth and wrangling him into PJ's, one of us feeds Nola and wrangles her into PJ's
8:10 - put Caleb to bed again
8:20 - put Caleb to bed for the 3rd time
8:30 - Threaten Caleb with his life if he gets out of bed again, put Nola to bed
8:45 - Rudy cleans up the kitchen, Haley straightens up the house; lunches are packed for the next day and bags put by the door
9:30 - Sit down and try to unwind by watching a little TV or catching up on the computer
10:00 - Wake up from where I dozed off in the chair watching TV or catching up on the computer; take out contacts and fall into the bed with my mind racing about what all needs to be done the next day; fall asleep after about 3 minutes of playing Words With Friends on my iPhone
And it starts all over again the next day...

Somewhere in there, there is laundry to be done for 4 people, multiple diapers to be changed and bottles to be fed, snacks to be doled out, toys to be found/fixed/played with, groceries to be bought, bills to be paid, a house to be maintained, appointments to go to, errands to run and relationships to be cultivated. And those are just the things that NEED to be done. Nothing has been said about the other things I enjoy like blogging, reading, scrapbooking, etc.

I don't know how single parents survive. I couldn't manage without Rudy and all that he does. We share the load pretty well and maintain a good balance. He usually has the patience and energy to keep up with Caleb while I have the multitasking ability to meet Nola's needs and sometimes even do other things at the same time.

I can't wait for summer vacation. Less than 30 days and the chaos switches gears to packing and unpacking for trips, going to the pool, VBS, sunblock, and bug spray. I choose that chaos over the other kind any day because I'm with my family and making memories instead of going through the motions of the daily grind.