Written by: T.M. Brunson
I get up at 5am, Monday thru Friday.
Reluctantly.
Depending on the baby, I could have been up twice before that time during the night.
I drag myself to the bathroom to empty my bladder. I think about what I will do for the girls for breakfast while I begin to make their lunches. Some of my girls are picky eaters. Others are not. It's easier, for me, to make the same lunches every day with variations on the snacks. Salami for one kid with the salami separated from the bread. Nutella for three kids—two of them on Hawaiian bread (that bread is the devil but it tastes so good!), one on sliced bread. The fifth kid either gets Nutella or PB&J. (Wait—is there a kid in her class with a peanut allergy?) The things we need to think about these days…
Then, I get snacks for everyone. And, I must do this before everyone starts coming into the kitchen at 6am. I do not allow them to look into their lunch bags while I'm still in the house. It prevents me from hearing, "I don't like that," or "I don't want to eat that today." I get enough of that with breakfast.
I try to give them at least one fruit and one regular snack. It doesn't always work out that way because it really depends on what we have in the house at that time.
Snacks packed. By the time I'm filling their water bottles, I hear the #thebrunsonbunch trampling down the stairs.
A bunch of "good mornings" are exchanged. A couple of "is it a home day or a school day?" questions are asked. Some are grumpy. Others only care about what breakfast is on the table.
This morning, I made toast on Italian rolls and cut up some fruit—pineapples, mangos, and some frozen blueberries (which the little ones like because they taste like candy when they are frozen, so they say).
By the time they are all situated, I hit the shower.
The baby might still be asleep at this time or she might wake up. You just never know... Today, she was still asleep. She didn't wake up until I was back downstairs around 6:45am, getting dressed. And she woke up really hungry.
My husband changes her booty, keeps her in her swaddle, and takes her upstairs for a bottle. I touch up anyone's hair who didn't make it through the night with their scarf intact. I grab my phone, my Beats wireless headphones, my shoes, coat, keys, lunch/breakfast/snack/whatever, and head out the door by 7am after a bunch of "see you later-s" and "I love you-s" and "have a good day-s."
I get into the car and I drive in silence. Mentally, I need to prepare for the day.
Sometimes, I will check my Marco Polo app and catch up on my polos and return a few as well.
I get to work by 8am and I'm in go-go-go mode throughout the day. I have various snacks at work. I try to snack healthy—popcorn for fiber, Terra veggie chips (just because they taste good). When I'm being bad, I eat madeleines. Yummy! I carry a gallon of water with me throughout the day. I might not finish it that day, but one day I plan to!
I leave work between 4:30pm-5pm. I drive home in silence again. I need to mentally prepare myself for what's awaiting me at home (there are, at least two or three of them who are excited to tell me about their day), dinner needs to get on the table, showers need to get done, baby needs to be fed...
And then that glorious hour arrives—BEDTIME! Bedtime is at 8pm. I look forward to it every night. It's when the house gets its sanity back. The baby will eat one more time and then she will pass out between 9:30-10pm.
By this time, I'm exhausted. My brain is firing off everything that I need to do for the next day and what I need to finish up that night.
Do I throw a load of laundry in the washer? Will I stay awake long enough to put it in the dryer?
Whose hair will I need to do in the morning?
What meetings to have? Do I need to dress up or can I dress down a little?
Do I write a blog post on allmommyissues.com tonight or tomorrow morning? I want to hear from you. What are your days and nights like? Do your kids have a set bedtime? What do you do during your "me" time?
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