My typical day
Today was a fairly typical day.
Up by 6:30. My husband is out the door to work at this point, because he has to get to work early in order to come home early to meet the bus. I hang out the laundry which I’ve washed the night before. I try to get to the dishes (this is done by hand; we have no dishwasher). If I don’t, then my husband will probably do them when he arrives in addition to continuing to work from home, bringing in the laundry, helping Em with homework, etc. There are a few other things I try to get done, like watering the garden.
If I haven’t prepped my lunch the night before I have to do it now, so I try to be sure to have something ready the previous night. I get Em ready for school, I get myself ready for work, and then I drop Em off at school.
Originally we thought she’d be taking the bus, but the 7:55 bus time we were originally given has turned out to be unrealistic. Instead, we’ve enrolled her in a before-school program. This program has some bugs to work out, like where they meet. So for the past couple of days Em and I have wandered from place to place in the school trying to find where they meet. They say they’ve finally locked down a location, so hopefully this won’t be an issue much longer.
Because of transportation and before-school care issues, I’m running late for work. I expected this to be the case while we worked out the bugs with CMS, so I’ve put in for late arrival and truncated lunches all week. They know I’m working my butt off for them so they’re being very good about being flexible. However, I arrive later than planned, so I decide to take a 20-30 minute lunch to make up for it.
I have to leave work on time, because someone else is the last one out and locks the door. I don’t want to make her wait, and once when I left late they had already turned off all the lights and locked the door and I had to feel my way around the still-unfamiliar office in the dark to find the other exit, which thankfully was still unlocked. I’d like to avoid this again if possible.
Tonight there was a 6pm PTA program so I go directly from work to the school. My husband is already there with Em because there’s no way I can make it before 6:15. I miss part of it, but after I arrive he can take our tired daughter home and also do some chores, like folding laundry and helping with homework. PTA night runs until 8pm. Then it’s home to answer a few e-mails (the Jayne hat mails are stacking up, but they’ll have to wait another day) check over some homework, grab a late dinner, and then get Em ready for bed (hopefully by 9).
Em gets to sleep well after 9, but I don’t have the heart to force the issue because we haven’t gotten to spend time together all day. It’s good for both of us to have a little time together. After Em’s in bed, I e-mail her teachers to follow up on a few things mentioned in PTA night.
At this point it’s 10pm. I should make tomorrow’s lunch (I was told to bring lunch, we’re apparently going on a field trip), answer those Jayne e-mails, or do any number of other productive things. Exercise is out, since the Y is closed. It’s the third day in a row that exercise has been shunted aside in favor of day-to-day considerations.
Normally my husband and I unwind with a little TV, but if we’re not going to do chores, we should go to bed. He has to be up and on the road in about eight hours and I don’t have it that much better. But dammit, I want roses, not just bread. So instead we stay up and watch a Warehouse 13 episode (we’re getting caught up) while I play stupid Facebook games.
Now it’s 11:45. And I’m about to go to bed. My lunch is unmade and I’ll probably wind up just having a bagel or something. I did bring one today but didn’t have time to eat it.
I know there’s got to be a better way to handle all this, but we haven’t found it yet. I can’t figure out what we can cut. I’ve already cut exercise several times, and it’s like planning the invasion of Normandy to get to the grocery store. It’s like this new eight hour a day job has somehow turned into 14 hour a day jobs for my husband and myself. It’s stressful. I hope we find the balance soon, because this is no way to live.
I wish I had some insight, but I do sympathize with you.
You need to find places in the day to catch your breath and make sure you’re still carrying everything you left home with. (“You don’t say,!”) I remember the craziness when I started grad school — in the exact same place where I’d worked, lived and gone to school for the last eight years! It’s so weird that just figuring out where to sit and eat your lunch, or walking in one direction instead of the other, can make such a big difference.
Can you get grocery delivery or do online shopping? It looks like you can pick stuff out online and Harris Teeter will physically shop for you and get everything ready for quick pickup.
Give yourself a break tomorrow and grab some lunch at Subway or something. Yeah, you want to save money and pack your lunch, but one won’t hurt, especially when you’re still waiting for other people to fix things you can’t control (cf. before-school program). Your brain is more important than six bucks.
Does your kitchen have room for a portable dishwasher? Here’s one for $45.
I’m totally going all Flora Poste on you, and I apologize if I’m jumping into something you’ve already gone over eighty billion times. I just hope you don’t keep feeling like you’ve seen something nasty in the woodshed 🙂
Alternative to a portable dishwasher – paper plates. They’ll biodegrade and save you a few headaches.
I think that the Teeter suggestion is awesome. It’s a great way to help save a few bucks too. No impulse shopping. I need to do more internet ordering. I might actually cook more too since I could have recipes in front of me when I order.
Sounds like my sister’s life, except she has a dishwasher and my niece has afterschool activities. You’re lucky that Steve can shift his hours to do afterschool care.
This makes me appreciate you coming to knit night all the more.
Hopefully once the transportation/before school care gets worked out, you can get to work on time, take a full lunch and possibly walk to work out then.
I cook on Sundays to stock up on lunches. I dish things out in containers and freeze them and cut up my veggies and bag them. Then making my lunch each night is just a matter of grabbing things and throwing them in the bag. That’s the only advice I have.
Good luck
I know. It’s frustrating when you first realize that even if you did only the work – didn’t indulge yourself at all – there’s still no way to get 8 hours of sleep. I tell myself 6 is enough, but my body doesn’t always listen.
There’s a reason she’s called “Superwoman.” She’s fictional.
That was from me, BTW. -Laura