Breathe

Do you ever have those days that are so crazy you literally have to remind yourself to breathe? Today was one of those days and for the most part it was my own doing. It started with the kids getting up way too early even though I needed them up this morning because we had to get Sadie to an 8 AM doctor's appt. Granted I normally get a lot done before 8AM anyway, it's just harder when pressed with a deadline. So I got up and fed the kids, got them dressed, took a shower and got myself dressed, packed my diaper bag and Aiden's leapster backpack and was ready before 7:30. In the 10 spare minutes I changed the sheets on both the kids beds and made my own. Done. So that left Sadie with....herself and she got up and in the shower before I did. Who walked out the door first?? That's right, the kids and I did. So we did the doctor appt. thing and then gave her a ride to work and came home for a bit.

I did have some downtime then but it was filled with "I'm hungry", "I'm thirsty", "Is it library time yet?", "Is it lunch time yet?", grunts of pooping babies, the phone ringing and assorted whines and cries. Riley took a nap, I fed Aiden and packed a lunch for Riley to eat at the library since he was asleep. Aiden dumped the crumbs from his plate all over the floor b/c "there was a monster robot coming!" so I cleaned that up and then Riley woke up. I had a few minutes so tried to feed him lunch. Everything I put in his mouth came back out, I gave up. Library was great and the kids had fun.

We left there and came home for 30 minutes to have snack, change diapers, go potty, etc. Then we left to go to the grocery store and pick Sadie up at work. I started with a short little list; milk, veggies, pasta, juice. 35 minutes later I've done a whole grocery shopping with two kids in tow, loaded it into the car and managed to pick Sadie up only 3 minutes late. This is about the time I had to remind myself to breathe. Came home, unloaded groceries, made dinner, put Aiden in time out twice, listened to Riley scream every time I walked away, set the table, fed the kids, ate my dinner, cleaned it up, did a load of laundry, put a cranky baby down for nap that I'll regret later, cleaned up the living room....insert breathe here.

So I decided to sit down and blog. I couldn't think of anything special I did today but as I sat here and typed out my day I came upon a few things. I taught my son about recycling as we watched the guy load bags of cans and bottles onto a truck "I didn't know that" he said, I sat with my boys during story time and played peek a boo with Riley to keep him happy, I played catch with Riley on the floor of the living room and thought enough of it to make a video to always have the memory, I held my 3 year old after his time out when he was so disappointed in himself, I listened to my boys snoring in the backseat of the van, I kissed away the tears of a tired baby, and through most of it I smiled.

Being a stay at home mom is so much work and I'm rarely home. I like to call myself a stay with the kids mom (SWKM). It's a lot of work with little recognition from anyone other than my kids but it is hands down the best job I've ever had. My clothes get dirty, my hair gets pulled, I eat more PB&J than I care to discuss, I have in depth conversations about the appropriate way to use the potty, I get pooped on, cried on, puked on, and sometimes they even hand me their boogers but... I also hear "I love you mommy" "I need you mommy" and get hugs and kisses all day and I get to enjoy those little moments that make my heart skip like when Riley figured out he could roll a ball to me and I would clap, or when Aiden leans over and pulls Riley in and says "I love you Ri". No contest for me, I love what I do.