A Day in the Life of a Mother

Wednesday 1 April 2009

I know women do a lot in one day, but just how much?

I often feel like I’m running, rushing to get everything done. I’m not one of those supermums who try to do too much and don’t know how to relax. I just like too many things, am interested in too many things and want to achieve too many things.

Maybe I am one of those wannabe supermums who try to do too much and don’t know how to relax…

So here is an experiment that will probably snap my synapses in half by the end of the day… I’m going to catalogue everything I do today. If you find me face-down on the carpet you’ll know it all became too much.

Deep breath, here goes…

Husband’s alarm goes off and wakes me
Lay awake planning day and listening to husband potter
Get up
Open curtains
Tidy away magazines
Make bed
Whiz
Put lenses in
Husband brings cup of tea
Put hair back
Begin sorting winter clothes still in suitcases from Beijing
Sort pashminas and scarves and find homes for them
Put away Husband’s ties
Tidy up spare room
Put a load of washing on
Ella and Riley wander out
Begin kids’ breakfast
Make kids beds, tidy rooms
Pack school bags with hats lunches and drink bottles
Check emails
Clean kitchen
Stack dishwasher
Put away ironing from night before
Tidy couches
Fold throw rugs
Put away knickknacks and toys
Sort out kids uniforms
Put school bags and shoes by front door
Call to kids to leave rabbits alone and get dressed
Do kids’ hair
Check blog
Hook up laptop
See kids off to school, watch them walk to bus stop
Kick leaves off paving at front of house
Put two pictures up on the wall in the living room
Poop
Put away more items
Sip cold tea
Turn on tv in living room
Listen to morning show as I put doors on IKEA cabinet I assembled yesterday
Put items inside cabinet with new doors on
Rearrange books and vases and lamps and knickknacks in living room
Turn off tv
Rearrange some kitchen items in cupboards
Make myself some breakfast of natural yoghurt, sliced pear and raw oats
Do a little internet maintenance
Send two emails
Dry roast almonds in the pan

Bake oats in the oven
Tidy kitchen, stack dishwasher, turn it on
Take clothes off the line
Eat snatches of breakfast
Upload photographs I took yesterday
Turn on the kettle
Bring the green refuse bin in
Check rabbits and give them block of wood to gnaw on after one takes a nibble at my finger
Take washing off the outdoor line put them on indoor line as it has started to rain
Check vegetable and herb seedlings
Make chai tea in my Tai Tai cup given me by Mary Kate at Tai Tai Kitchen in Beijing
Hang out more washing
Do a little writing
Sip tea
Whiz
Write Easter cards to friends overseas

Fold clothes
Measure kids clothes for sale on eBay
Work on my presentation for my book talk on Riley and the Sleeping Dragon at a Canberra school tomorrow
More writing
Upload eBay listings

Shut down laptop
Drink water
Make avocado and tomato wrap for lunch
Check text messages
List things on ebay
Cup of vanilla infused black tea
Fruit cake
Check mail
Bring in other bin
Take snail off wall and throw in bin
Check rabbits aren’t in sun
Rabbits nearly take my hand off, feed them

Put away cooled oats and roasted nuts
Shower, wash hair, blowdry
Send text message to Husband
Whiz
Jump in car and go grocery shopping
Unpack groceries
Drink water
Unlock front door for kids
Open windows
Sweep kitchen floor
Write
Welcome kids
Unpack school bags
Put uniforms in wash
Tidy up clothes in kids bedrooms
Get afternoon tea for kids
Help Riley with homework
Unpack dishwasher
Tidy kitchen
Eat a fizzer candy – am off the booze this week and need some kind of oral gratification
Check eBay items – two selling already
Placate Riley who doesn’t want to watch Hi-5
Tell Ella to pick up her school shoes for the eighth time
Pass a thought to dinner
Sort through Riley’s clothes

Welcome Riley’s neighbour friend for a playdate
Text playdate’s mum to let her know he’s here
Tidy up homework junk
Put linen away
Change doona cover on our bed
Close door to living room so I can’t hear boys playing Wii
Open door to living room and remove power drill I had left in there earlier when putting together IKEA cabinet
Close door again
Drink water, gagging for a gin tonic
Eat another fizzer
Pass a resentful thought to dinner
Pat Ella on head while she watches cartoons, mention her homework, she asks me for a pear
Re-enter Riley’s room for clothes cleanup
Start on Ella’s clothes, find a top I can sell on eBay, photograph it, list it
Check on boys
Set up laptop for Ella and her powerpoint project
Take Panadol – must be all this endless cataloguing
Write a little
Check emails
Drink water
Tell Ella to pick up her school shoes

Water vegetable and herb seedlings
Get copies of Riley and the Sleeping Dragon ready for signing at the school tomorrow
Start signing my name in some books
Butter a hot cross bun and nibble it
Ella shows me what she learned on powerpoint at school today
I get the boys a pre-dinner icypole
Go and see how Ella’s powerpoint presentation is coming along
Google Dr Chris Brown (handsome Aussie vet) for Ella
Phone husband; he’s had a bad day
Flick on tele, start dinner – crispy chicken tortillas
Help playdate pick up the rabbits
Back to dinner
Send playdate home
Whiz
Clean up bathroom
Move rabbits
Clean leaves off trampoline
Back to dinner

Serve dinner and eat it with kids
Encourage Riley to eat
Clean up kitchen
Encourage Riley to eat
Get kids uniforms ready for school tomorrow
Encourage Riley to eat
Encourage Riley to eat
Encourage Riley to eat
Put kids in shower
Get their jammies ready
Tell Ella to pick up her school shoes
Kiss husband hello and get his dinner
Get kids vanilla ice cream with Milo on top
Follow up with my book distributor
Check emails
We all settle down to watch The Biggest Loser, last 7 mins before getting up again
Eat small Crunchie while magazine-flicking
Sort through Husband’s clothes (we’re rearranging wardrobes)
Tidy couch
Tidy living room and put toys away
Get Riley’s reader ready, prep his bed
Get Ella off youtube where she has been researching Dr Chris Brown and is watching kittens battle watermelons
Tell Ella to pick up her school shoes
Send Riley to bed where he reads his reader to Dad
Check and send emails
Put some things away
Gagging for a chardonnay
Drink some water

Watch a bit of Animal Rescue with Ella
Kiss Riley goodnight
Fire up the laptop to work on my Riley and the Sleeping Dragon presentation for tomorrow
Consider calling brother and sister-in-law as recent flooding is creeping up coast towards their house
Season the wok
Send Ella off to bed
Clean the stove
Close the windows
Put some things away
Kiss Ella goodnight
Pre-sign more books for tomorrow
Boil the kettle
Save my presentation onto a USB stick
Find my knitting
Pour some hot water to drink
Put Kath n Kim on DVD and knit my daughter’s anorak
Send some emails

Check the kids and kiss their noses
Tidy up bedroom
Fill my water bottle
Brush teeth, floss
Take off makeup, moisturise
Check doors are locked, windows are closed
Take off watch and ring
Take out lenses
Whiz
Crawl into bed
Mull over things in my brain
Read magazine
Fall asleep after two pages

2 comments:

Dani and Nick said...

Well...here it is.....when you get to the end....repeat process. Makes your day look like Mardi Gras!!!

mmmm...got up, fed kids, went to work, came home , drink chardy, put washing in washing machine, had chardy, put kids dinner in the fridge, had chardy, kissed husband hello, drank chardy, put clean washing in microwave and kids dinner in dryer, drank chardy, put kids into bath, trip up the stairs, drink chardy, take clothes out of microwave and place in dishwasher, drink chardy, put the cat in the kids beds and the kids out the back, drinky poo chardy wardy, forget to have dinner....instead open another bottle of poopsy chardy poo, iron shirt, leave iron on, burn shirt...bugger it have I more teensy weency chardy poo...hic, go to be...room spinning...work out if I read with only one eye open room stops spinning.....v happy...might just have a tiny teeny nightcap of chardy...............all black................ahhhhhhh

Anonymous said...

girl you do too much!
What does one do with cooled oats and roasted nuts??
Thanks for the Easter card darling (I have lost my brain lately with all this baby dancing issues) Great post! (tb)

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