Where Does The Time Go?

To this day, I have no idea how I spend all the minutes of my day. Being a stay at home mom should have its perks, I should be able to take a second to write, or bake a cake, or fold some laundry, or, you know, eat?

Anyone that says it must be easy staying at home with your kids, has no idea what they're talking about. I wake up and think "Ok, today I've got to fold that huge pile of laundry, put it away, clean the kitchen, dust that horribly dirty entertainment center, and give the dog a bath." Five things that, when done from start to finish would only take me about an hour or two.

But instead, it goes a little like this:

Wake up.
Change baby's diaper
Open Preschoolers curtains
Turn off his nightlight
Pour cereal
Let the dog out
Make a piece of toast
Put a few dishes in the dishwasher
Let the dog back in
Turn on cartoons
Fold three or four shirts
Clean up spilled milk
Mix up some baby food
Clean off the baby's face, and hands, and elbows... and everything else
Fold a few more shirts, or pants, or whatever
Change another diaper
Grab a granola bar for the preschooler
Put in a kiddie movie
Finish folding the clothes
Yell at preschooler to stop climbing on the dog
Convince him to take a pile of his jeans to his room
Throw a few more plates in the dishwasher
Time for more baby food
Baby takes a nap, toddler starts jumping on the couch
Baby wakes up screaming in terror
Twenty minutes to calm the baby down
Ten minutes of Preschooler time out.
Let the dog out again
Peanut butter sandwich, or grilled cheese, or chicken nuggets, or soup for the preschooler
Wipe down kitchen counters
Change diaper
Rush another pile of clothes up the stairs
Wait for baby to fall asleep... she never does
Give up on giving the dog a bath
Lay on the floor with the baby so she gets some tummy time without screaming her head off
Switch the movie for the preschooler
Back to the floor
Yell at the dog to get off the preschooler
Yell at the preschooler to get off the dog
Send the dog outside, and the preschooler upstairs
Grab a quick sandwich for me to eat, first thing all day
Sit on the couch with the computer, trying to write for a few minutes, and spend the whole time listening to the preschooler explain why he only likes red and green gummy bears
Change another diaper
Make dinner, running back and forth between food and the baby until it's finished
Say a quick hello to The Husband when he gets home
Wipe up the stove and throw the leftovers in the fridge
Play Trouble with the preschooler
Nag at him to pick up his toys
Sit together on the couch with everyone for a little bit before bedtimes.
Bath for the preschooler.
New diaper for the baby.
Brushing teeth, and going potty
Bedtime for the kiddos.
Bring the computer up to bed and get all comfortable. Finally time to myself, that won't be interrupted.
Write for ten minutes and fall asleep with the computer on my stomach.

Wake up, and repeat.

I often dream of having teenagers, or maybe children that have all left the nest, then I'm sad, because I know it'll come all too quickly. So I protect the memories as much as I can, and I clean up the milk, and change the diapers, because that's my number one job. But every single day I look at the clock and think "How in the hell is it 4:30? I just woke up!"

Where, oh where does the time go???

Toodles!