Its Monday

What I would love to see on Monday morning:


Wouldn't it be nice to wake up on Monday morning and have your clothes for the week pressed and hanging in your closet with matching socks, accessories, and shoes. In addition, you have all three children's clothes separated and put in a hanging organizer with a little cubby for each day of the week. There you find their clothes socks, shoes, matching hair bows for the oldest, an extra outfit or two for the youngest and a special toy that they picked out to take to the babysitters for the day. They wake up with a smile on their face and are excited about the day ahead of them, eager to see their caretaker and their friends.


What actually happens:

On Sunday night I am trying to wash the one thing that the oldest has decided she wants to wear the next day, trying to find clothes for myself and having a hard time remembering what I wore just last week, and dealing with the oldest getting up multiple times with differing aches or trips to the bathroom. I get up on Monday morning on a good note. The baby is happy in the morning. Last night was his first night in his own room. I had put off moving him, but he is definitely too heavy for the bassinet beside our bed. All is peaceful as he nurses and I catch up on the news. Then the mayhem begins. Isabelle (the oldest) and Charlie (the lovely middle child) don't want to get out of bed. Luckily this morning Chad (the wonderful husband) has gotten up early to get them dressed. He is able to grab the clothes out of the dryer that I had washed (and he dried) the night before, find socks that match and get them both downstairs. We find two shoes for each child, he gets their drinks and I work on fixing Isabelle's hair which she cries that it hurts and asks very politely if I could be more gentle. I am trying, but I am also watching the clock. Still have to get the milk for diaper bag, get stuff for lunch and get myself dressed. We get out the door by 7:20 with only a few problems. Isabelle decides last minute that she needs her leapster and Charlie thinks that he needs a jacket to go outside. It is a cool morning but he has on long sleeves and he hasn't even been outside to know that it is cool. Luckily the leapster is already in the diaper bag and Charlie gets out the door and is not cold. Away for the day.


Now I am here at work with a break thinking about how to turn the ideal scenario into reality or at least meeting it in part. I know that I can prevent most of the problems. Organization is the key. Time is the enemy though. I love working - seeing people everyday, helping people see everyday and getting the interaction with adults and colleagues that I would miss at home. However, given that I am at work or commuting to and from work from around 7:15 to 5:30 or 6:00 every day, when I am at home I have a hard time devoting my time to getting things done. I get home, try to get some feedback from Isabelle and Charlie on the daily activities at the sitter's house, feed baby Henry and then try to at least get things going for dinner. Chad usually comes in about 6:00 and will either take Henry or will help finish dinner while I feed Henry. By the time dinner is over it almost 7:00 and we try to get some quality time with the kids before the big kids (Isabelle and Charlie) are in need of a bath and off to bed around 8:00. It is usually 8:30 or 9:00 before they are settled in and then I get Henry fed again and down to sleep by 9:30 or 10:00. This still leaves the dishes to be done (Chad usually takes care of that), clothes to be picked out for the next day etc before the whole routine starts again. My point here is that I feel like I never have the time to get organized or be prepared. Of course there is the weekend and that is the time that I am able to get some things accomplished, but this is my time to have fun with the children as well. Now I am aware that I shouldn't devote 100% of my time to just fun time with the kids while at home, but I find that it is very difficult to carry out all of the things needing to be done that I was unable to over the course of the week. Organization and time management I believe are the key, but I have yet to work those things out. First things first I need time to get things organized room by room. The kids closets need to be done and the laundry needs to be caught up. I have this belief that if I could ever get it all put away and in a specific place that I could manage to make a schedule and keep up with it to maintain the organization. Is that the case? Could I keep it all together while working and taking care of three children? Am I just deluding myself to think that I will ever dig myself out of this hole? I don't know. I just need time to try to get it started and I think that is the hardest step.