Let me begin by saying that I feel like I won the life lottery most days: I love my jobs (I own Clippo and SoConnected as well and both are insanely busy, rewarding companies), I have an hilarious, handsome, supportive, genius husband, two brilliant kids who rarely throw tantrums in public, two parents who love me greatly, and friends who I have no doubt would cross coals barefoot for me. Well. They'd at least buy me a coffee and let me whine to them over BBM, that much I know for sure. So yes, I recognize all that I have and try hard to be thankful for all of that every single day.
But here's the but. But.
Sometimes I just find it incredibly hard to juggle all the things that must be done in a day.
Get the kids dressed. Get them fed. Brush those teeth! Wash those faces!
Walk daughter to school. Console son when daughter is gone (she's his best friend, he misses her so on the days she's in school).
Get home. Sit down to work. Respond to emails. Breastfeed the toddler. Grab something for breakfast.
Throw some laundry in.
Connect on social media to everyone, for all clients. Plan lunch.
Walk back to the school to get my daughter for lunch. Feed the kids.
Walk daughter back to school.
Make some calls. Have conference calls. Go to the odd meeting.
Did I get dressed today? If I don't have a meeting, there's a good chance I rolled out in crumpled-up floor-finds.
Create proposals. Plan stock. Order supplies. Manage staff.
Talk to the part-time nanny about how much it sucks that she's part-time but also how lucky I am to be able to work with the kid(s) home.
Complete more work. Send some orders. Develop promotions. Plan parties.
Get daughter from school. Walk home. Plan supper. Oops, no groceries! Take kids grocery shopping.
Put groceries away. Cook supper. Feed the kids. Bathe the kids. Pajamafy the kids. Read book after book after book to the kids. Cuddle them till they fall asleep.
Tiptoe downstairs to watch tv and relax. Realise there's no time for that.
Tidy up a corner of the messy house. Plop self down in front of this big, huge monitor and work more till my eyes sting and I can't form coherent sentences.
Pass out, coma-tired into the bed filled with my two kids and husband.
Later. Rinse. Repeat.
How's your day?
Sounds about the same!
ReplyDeleteI always say I feel like my kids' hamsters running on a wheel....I run and run and run but always end up in the same spot.
ReplyDeleteOf course, my kids' hamsters are evil and plotting my death. If you ever here that I've disappeared, blame the hamsters.
THIS is why I can't get any work done.
The hamsters.
I basically live in 2 1/2 hour increments, between ferreting kids to school and preschool and activities and preparing meals and trying to get a tiny bit of work done.
ReplyDeleteBut, you know what? I just came from 'the other side.'
I like it better here.
I think you've got the important thing covered off. It sounds like your family totally rocks! The rest, meh.
ReplyDeleteI used to be super Type A (minus relying on external sources for self-esteem). I never took days off work, and whenever I found myself with more than two days to myself (two-day weekends were perfect), I'd start going crazy, creating messes just to have something to clean, breaking things so I'd have something to fix, going on elaborate errands, reorganizing my apartment endlessly, moving furniture around, etc...
ReplyDeleteBut I've been unemployed since early June, and despite my aggressive efforts to find work, there's none to be found.
At first I told myself unemployment was a blessing in disguise, an opportunity to do all the things I'd like to do but couldn't when I was working due to the mental energy and time taken away by work. I can learn a language! Write a novel! Take a course! Read more! Complete the P90x program! Run a marathon! Cure cancer! Fly to the moon! And other ridiculous clichés that take up free time handsomely. And to be fair to myself, I did many of those things.
But with every passing month, the wake-up time I set on my alarm has gone back an hour. This month, it's been between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. At first, my late start times bothered me. But I just don't give a fuck anymore.
I'm not going to say that I envy your endlessly busy days because that's insensitive and also, if speaking from an objective position, it wouldn't really be true. Still, I'm starting to worry that when someone finally takes a chance on me employment-wise, that having been so damn unbusy for so long will have in effect ruined my ability to thrive under pressure--one of the things that has until now been a defining feature of my character/identity.
So, to answer your question, my day is pointless and without structure or meaning. And no matter how hard I try to will myself to do something useful, I just have no drive left. It's been consumed by heartless HR managers and cruel VPs at ethically questionable companies. And it sucks.
So maybe, objectively, I actually do envy your busyness. Sorry for being an insensitive jerk.
I feel your pain and I don't have a job aside from being a sahm. I also have double the amount of kids you do and no nanny, so there ya go! ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm just about to email the boys tennis instructor and tell him he's got to fit us in on weekends because we just can't do it during the week. What I really want to do is cancel all their extra curriculars so that we can just stay home in the evenings.
Have S stay for lunch a couple of days a week. It makes a huge difference.
Here's my commisseration: http://hullabalooparty.blogspot.com/2011/09/one-commisseration-coming-up.html
ReplyDeleteAt this point I am done! I have stressed myself beyond belief. I spend the day chasing a non paying retailer that was giving me the runaround for the past three months but at last with the help of a great friend and her family the issue was solved and my stock and money have been received. It's days like this that make me think is it worth it and then I have the help from my great support system which reminds me why I do what I do. My youngest just spiked a fever of 102 am middle son stepped on a seam ripper driving it through his big toe which I had to remove, but the highlight of my day with the kids was the boys coming home and both handing me a note saying they would receive an achievement award at school on Friday and because I am my own boss and work from home I get to enjoy every minute and be the crazy mom at the school snapping pictures. It's the little things that count and make everything worth it!
ReplyDeleteI've been struggling with this myself lately! Totally different set of commitments of course, but still. I wanted for SO LONG to be this busy (in the form of becoming a parent). And I love *almost* every minute of it. But once in a while, I just want to plop down on the couch and watch TV for 30 uninterrupted minutes. Or, God forbid, read a book. Don't even entertain the idea of taking a bath.
ReplyDeleteIs it worth it? Without a doubt. Is it easy? Hell no.
I'm doing the SAHM thing, which sounds more laid-back than what you're doing.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'd like to be that busy every single day. If you're happy doing it, then keep it up! If not... then find ways to take a load off.
Thanks for reading, everyone. It's nice to know I'm not the only one feeling this way. I try hard to take time to sit back and relax and just PLAY with the kids during the day. They remind me why I'm here. :)
ReplyDeletehaha....it's my life! Good to know I'm not the only one. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete