I feel like when we meet new people they ask what Garett does and then what I do during the day....hahahahaha what do I not do?
I wake up almost every morning to a sweet toddler alarm coming from under his door saying "HELLLLLLOOOOO! HEEEELLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOO!"
It's adorable and surprisingly loud.
We curl up on the couch drinking our Breakfast Essentials and watching Curious George or Daniel
Tiger.
My schedule shifts between lots of different things for the rest of the day. My days consist of:
- Changing diapers
- Picking up toys, trash, clothes and other random items
- Doing dishes, not before avoiding doing dishes for as long as possible (they are the chore that NEVER GOES AWAY)
- Mopping
- Trying to figure out where that smell is coming from
- Vacuuming
- More picking things up
- Telling Joshua to get out of the fridge
- Spot-shotting something (I have never vacuumed or used spot-shot so much in my life since living with a toddler) Do they make spot-shot containers by the gallon? But seriously...
- Random comments to my toddler about things he should or should not be doing and trying to avoid either him or me crying
- Talking to said toddler about things going bye bye, eating food, mommy's baby in her belly, dada at work and other new phrases
- Making lunch and hoping my toddler will eat it
- Forgetting to eat because I'm so focused on feeding my toddler, or eating whatever he doesn't
- Eating things off the floor or that were spit into my hand, because I don't feel like walking to the trash can again
- Talking to my momma
- Taking Joshua outside
- Which often leads to ending up at our neighbors' house
- Very few chores get done on days we go outside
- Trying to keep toddlers from fighting
- Apologizing a lot when toddlers do fight
- Nonstop comments to my toddler about staying safe and out of trouble
- At some point trying to slow things down and maybe watch a quiet show before nap time
- Put toddler down for a nap
- Once down I contemplate chores, sometimes they get done, sometimes I sit in silence for an hour just because. Or I fall asleep
- Garett gets home part way through nap time
- Catch up with my awesome husband on how our days went
- Joshua wakes up from nap
- Get dinner ready at the very least for Joshua, mostly it consists of leftovers or something small
- Cooking is less appealing when husband doesn't need to take a lunch for work
- At some point I remember I'm pregnant because baby girl kicks me a bunch
- Attempt to watch some show on tv and probably miss half of it
- Try to muster up any energy to be productive (it mostly fails)
- Think about how the house looks like a disaster even though I have cleaned it about a dozen times (thank you toddler)
- Insert random days of bills and other random tasks that need to get done, for the last few months filling out stuff for grad school, now searching for housing and thinking about all the student debt we're going into
- Freaking out about the future
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Trying to get Joshua to settle down before bed with a little show
- Some days are set aside for trying to wrap my brain around all the stressful things I need to do before we move and baby is born
- Oh and during most of these cleaning tasks my toddler is somewhere else undoing my hard work
- But I keep trying for my sanity's sake
- Change another diaper
- Debate who should put Joshua to bed
- Make sure his room is ready for bed
- Ask Joshua who he wants to put him to bed (it's mostly dada and mommy chuckles in approval)
- Some days laundry gets done
- Weekly we go to the store and try not to forget anything
- Joshua goes to bed
- I veg out on the couch feeling dead
- Try to remember to pay attention when the weather comes on, forget about half the time
- Sometimes watch a show with husband, other times quietly play games on my phone while listening to the tv and trying to relax before bed
- Get ready for bed
- Pass out
- Start over
It seems like even on days where I don't have much to do, I still feel tired. I forget that emotional exhaustion is still a thing. Even on days where I'm not running around, I'm still thinking about a million things. I guess that is the life of being a wife, mom, sister, daughter and friend.
Am I tired all the time? Yes!
Has my standard of gross drastically changed in the last year? Yes!
Would I change a thing? Absolutely not!
I feel like the months keep flying by with these days that often feel monotonous, but then I see how much Joshua is learning and growing and how we've grown as a family and it makes me smile. Being a mom is so exhausting, add being pregnant and planning to move across the country and it's amazing I have any sanity left at all, but it all works out. The funny thing is, I made this list and I could still add at least another 50 things to it, but then even I might get a little crazy.
Life is messy and mostly chaotic with a small semblance of goals and growth. I guess I wrote this to remind myself that it is okay to be tired, I don't have to have it together all the time or even most of the time. I do need to remember to take a break sometimes and appreciate how far we've come and all the great things in store for us.
This is to all the moms out there. You are awesome. You do a lot. Give yourself a break! Life flies by and we look back and have no clue what we've done all year, but that's okay. Life isn't always measured by big grandeur things, sometimes it's the small daily things that hold us all together.
Thanks for being awesome friends!
-Megan
