I had some good stuff too, including chronicling what it's like to have 3 tired and whining kids with front row seats to the shortest 4th of July fireworks show in history. Whose cruel joke was that?!
Anyway, on to this week . . .
This week it appears that I had to outsmart myself . . .
months ago. I was all set to do three
days of Camp Runamuk – even sent out an e-mail to all my kids’ friends with
days and times, what we’d be doing, etc.
And then the Superego (the 10 year old) says to me “mom, I think this is
the week that we are going to the Boys & Girls Club all week”. Of course I told her she was wrong, and just
to prove my point I would call the Boys & Girls Club. You know the rest of the story . . . the
children are at the Boys & Girls Club this week! Of course I sheepishly had to call all the moms to
tell them that well, I have mommy brain and have lost my mind. BUT, we will postpone! After laughing hysterically at me, they all
had the same response “no worries”!
Of course, about 2 minutes after dropping the children off
it dawned on me - the children are at the Boys & Girls Club ALL WEEK LONG .
. . as in, 6 hours a day or more of uninterrupted time to accomplish my mommy
things. Can you see the angels singing?!
Here’s what I learned about getting a few extra hours to
yourself and the secrets of SAHM summer survival:
1)
Try NOT to spend the first 45 minutes of your
new found “free time” cleaning the carpets.
I couldn’t help myself – I knew that those dirty little feet wouldn’t be
on the carpet for several hours, the cleaning lady had just come and they were
immaculately vacuumed. The stains (you
know those little black circles that no one can ever explain how they got
there), were beckoning to me!
 |
| The "packing for summer camp" mess I made all by myself! It felt good until the children came home and unpacked all the items I did manage to get into the trunks! |
2)
DO NOT, under any circumstances, make plans ahead
of time. I have tried so desperately to
figure out our schedule and make plans, only to find out what every seasoned
SAHM knows . . . SH*T HAPPENS! The baby
will fall down and throw the tantrum of a lifetime, the oldest will chip her
tooth, the middle child will insist that she has nothing to wear even though
you are standing in front of a dresser full of clothes . . . and all this will
happen as you are 5 minutes late for leaving to wherever you need to be. A friend gave me a great piece of advice - do
not tell the children where you are going or what you are doing until you are
in the car and actually on your way there.
You may want to even wait until you are at the door of the place where
you are going. In light of this week’s
screw up, I think I’m going to try this tactic from now on.
3)
Stock up on protein bars. Sitting down to eat lunch takes up too much precious,
child free productive time and is overrated.
Of course, when you get to 3:30 and realize all you’ve eaten all day is
a piece of toast, you will whine along with the children because you’re hungry
too. I’ve found that adding a glass of
wine to your afternoon snack really helps to take the edge off!
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