Thursday, July 12, 2012

Typical Wednesday

Not too long ago, I recently read a fantastic little poem by Beth Brubaker or Kathy Fictorie (different sites claim different authors)If you Give a Mom a Muffin... 
If you give a mom a muffin, 
She’ll want a cup of coffee to go with it. 
She’ll pour herself some. 
Her three-year-old will spill the coffee. 
She’ll wipe it up. 
Wiping the floor, she’ll find dirty socks. 
She’ll remember she has to do laundry. 
When she puts the laundry in the washer, 
She’ll trip over boots and bump into the freezer. 
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan for supper. 
She will get out a pound of hamburger. 
She’ll look for her cookbook (“101 Things To Do With a Pound of Hamburger”). 
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail. 
She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow. 
She will look for her checkbook. 
The check book is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old. 
She’ll smell something funny. 
She’ll change the two year old’s diaper. 
While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring. 
Her five-year-old will answer and hang up. 
She’ll remember she wants to phone a friend for coffee. 
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup. 
And chances are… 
If she has a cup of coffee, 
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

The poem was a refreshing reminder of how much I DO every day, even though it doesn't often FEEL that way. I'm sure many of you can relate! My goal for writing this post was actually selfish - I wanted to feel a sense of accomplishment. (In case you're wondering, it worked.) I highly recommend YOU doing the same. Comment with your story here, or send it to me to read. :) 


Anyway, here's my version: Typical Wednesday Morning 
I get woken up at 6:30 by Daria (crawling over me). We spend a few minutes in bed cuddling, the head toward the kitchen so I can start the coffee. I notice that the window is open in the bedroom (we close them very early in the morning to keep the cool air in and the warm air out) so I head that way to quietly close it, because Neven and Matt appear to be sleeping. Then I realize they are only pretending to sleep and hear them whispering about how Neven is going to "surprise" me. I head toward the bed. Neven jumps up "Boo!" (along with a huge smile of accomplishment). I give and get my good morning hugs. Daria hears us (more specifically, she hears Neven) from the other room, I hear her squeal with excitement then hear the pitter-patter of her feet towards us. We're soon ALL in the bed. Daria pats her diaper (her way of saying "I want it off"), so I take her diaper off. We cuddle for a few minutes, kids climb over us and under the covers, then Daria is ready to get going. She climbs down from the bed, fearless as usual. 

Then "Pee!" as she heads out of the room. I jump up to follow her to her potty, used overnight diaper and PJs in hand. She sits down to pee on her potty in the kitchen, leaving me with one free hand to grab the potty (before she has a chance to "help" by carrying it to the bathroom herself). On my way to dump it in the toilet, I toss the diaper in the garbage. 
The kids follow me to the kitchen, and have their morning beverage requests in before I can turn the coffee pot on. Milk for Daria, but Neven wants tea (with honey and three ice cubes) this morning instead of milk. While the water boils in the kettle, I finally start the coffee. Maijer (our 14-yr-old dog) is pacing, so I take him outside. Olive (our outside cat) is sitting on her bed meowing at me, and so I give her a scoop of food and a bit of attention. On the way back in, I see that the fan is still on and turn it off. 
Oh right - I have to pee. Daria joins me, seeing me pee she thinks it's a good idea, and so she squats in front of me and pees. Luckily, Neven is also in the bathroom with us and so I ask him to run and get me a cloth diaper to use to wipe the pee off the floor. 
I pour Neven his tea, and me my coffee. Neven and I sit down at the breakfast counter to do a few pages from his kindergarten workbook while Daria is occupied reading boooks with Matt. Time for a science experiment! This is when I get to sit down for a minute (except for the 30 seconds when I had to get magnets to distract Daria from helping pour the vinegar) while I watch Matt prep the experiment, and Neven watch with wide-eyes. 
I get the kids started on breakfast then jump in the shower. When I'm in the shower is when my clearest thinking of the day happens, which usually results in a mental to-do list: email a friend that's been on my mind this week and another I haven't talked to in a while, blog ideas, activities for the kids, today's schedule, my once-upon-a-time career... I hurry out of the shower. While I'm getting dressed, I remember that I need to pack long-sleeve shirts for after swimming today. 
(try to) sneak past the kids in the kitchen, grab shirts for the pool (closing up windows while I'm in their room anyway), picking up toys and dropping them in strategically-placed toyboxes (in every room!) along the way. I toss the shirts and some snacks in our pool bag, then attempt to take care of a few to-do's in the time I have left before Matt heads to work (which happens minutes later). 
I head back to the kitchen, where the kids are eating breakfast. I remember I need to cook turkey bacon and prep tonight's picnic dinner. I need the food scissors (which I love to over-use!), which are still in the dishwasher from last night. I empty the dishwasher while cooking bacon and finally drinking my cup of (reheated) coffee. I see my vitamins, and chug those down along with some water after filling up my water glass. I think about getting breakfast for myself, but instead run to grab my computer (so that I can write this blog before forgetting too much). Maijer is sitting at the door whining. I take him outside (again). 
The phone rings - while I'm talking, I'll use the time to get kids dressed for swim lessons. I look at the clock, and it's 8:28 am. :) 

1 comment:

  1. you forgot the part about the constant "Mama UP" or does Daria not do this? :-) It's insane. Absolutely insane.

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