The Most (Un)Productive Day Ever

7:41am – reluctantly roll out of bed, realizing I slept through my alarm. Wonder why I’m so foggy…remember being up every three hours with (teething???) baby. Groan.

7:43am – pull on sweats and hoodie from floor beside bed. Greet a blonde boy who stumbles into my room with a sleepy smile, the hug I only get first thing in the morning and a request for breakfast. Glance in bathroom mirror and decide yesterday’s hair will have to pull a double shift.

7:45am – mentally review the day’s to-do list: First, figure out what day it actually is. Happily it’s Monday – our day to stay close to home. Decide I will try to: tidy up the house, make sugar cookies with the kids, bring in the last of the Christmas boxes from storage and attempt to sort through all 5 boxes and find what we need to decorate.

7:50am - Greet oldest outside her bedroom door. Tell her about my plans to get the house cleaned today. She grumbles about it being no fun when I'm busy cleaning the house all day. Get cereal out. Notice beautiful hoar frost laden trees out the back window. Go to find bible.

8:00am – baby is up. Feed and dress her, head back to kitchen to check on breakfast progress.

9:00am – all kids fed and dressed. Baby wants to sleep, so put her in car seat. Brush daughter’s hair, put hat on her little brother. Find coats, hats and boots and get everyone out to the car.

9:30am – drive to shop to get boxes out of storage. Remind myself to find Christmas cookie cutters, which must also be in a box somewhere. Get boxes, pay utility bill and check mail.

10:39am – home in record time. Sort out wet boots, hats, mittens and coats. Carry in half of Christmas boxes and set in entryway. Shake my head at fact that cookie cutters are nowhere to be found. Baby seems cranky…think back to when she slept last (perhaps 20 min. in the car seat?) and deposit her into her crib.

11:00am – Notice breakfast is still on the table. Head to kitchen, sidelined by daughter needing words spelled for a card she is making. First, clear dishes to side of table so son can do playdough at one end. Sit for 20 minutes with daughter and spell out happy message she scribes on the card.

11:20am –Son asks me to look at his playdough rendition of Bob the Builder. Sit down to clean up playdough bits (and breakfast!) and end up creating Wendy, Scoop and Dizzy characters with rest of playdough.

11:30am - Find phone and retrieve message from missed call earlier. Decide to call my mom and ask for her sugar cookie recipe. Scrawl recipe on scrap paper, catch up with mom for 10 minutes while clearing table with other hand. In middle of call, rescue screaming baby from crib and admit napping is not going to happen right now. Cuddle with her in rocking chair. Baby calms down and I feel as though I finally accomplished something.

11:40am – Pretending I have nothing else to do, I sit down at computer and reply to 2 emails and a facebook message. Stare blankly at the screen for a moment searching for more means of procrastination. Realize why I normally try to leave the computer off during the day. Wonder who’s going to make lunch if I don’t.

Noon –Balance baby on hip while making noodles for other kids. Sit them down to eat and realize the floor is covered with crumbs from either a)breakfast or b) yesterday. Wince at realization that it’s more likely b. Sweep under chairs, one handed with baby on hip. Go to closet to get baby sling.

12:20pm – trip over boxes of Christmas decoration in entry way, slide them to the side and reposition garbage can waiting by door to be emptied in garage. Hear water boiling over…return to kitchen and get lunch on table for big kids (push playdough to the side-along with 2 bowls still there from breakfast). Try to put baby in high chair, but realize that for some reason today, she will cry if not attached to me. Give her a little squeeze and realize I’m needed and that I feel good about it.

1pm-time to put the baby to bed. Try the usual “dump in the crib with a soother” trick. Does not work today. End up sitting with her in the rocking chair for 30 minutes, while she sticks her fingers in my mouth and giggles at me. I giggle back.

1:30pm - try again to put baby in bed. Close door and hum to drown out crying.

1:31pm - head to kitchen to clean up lunch(and part of breakfast??). Sidetracked on way by errant thought of another place to look for cookie cutters. Ask son to go clean up playdough.

1:45pm – hear baby cry. Note I had not heard her for about 10 minutes and sneak to her door to check out the situation.

1:48pm satisfied there is no further noise coming from crib, I head back to kitchen, stopping in entry way to survey the mess of Christmas boxes. More determined, I push up my sleeves, pick up my purse off the pile of boxes and move it to its home on the entryway bench.

1:49pm – beckoned to dining room to help son make a playdough snake. Stick head into daughter’s room to find her quietly playing. Smile and tell her I love her. Help untie multiple knots from skipping rope she has wrapped around stuffed horse’s neck. Add “help kids clean room” to to-do list.

2pm – Remove three empty bowls and one half full of noodles from table. Notice son ate all his veggies at least. Look on floor for daughter’s veggies. Wipe kitchen counters and head to basement to look for cookie cutters. Pass full garbage can on way. Notice Christmas boxes have not yet unpacked themselves.

2:15pm – Son finds me to tell me he’s hungry. Clean up playdough, put out his half eaten bowl of noodles from lunch. Send quick email to husband to tell him how I’m getting nowhere on this day.

2:25pm – collapse on couch and notice how hard it is to keep my eyes open. Interrupted by fight that has broken out at my feet and sit down between two kids to help them play/share matchbox cars.

2:30pm – awake to find I’ve fallen asleep on the floor. Daughter suggests we read library books. I do so with eyes half open.

Baby wakes at 2:41pm - continue nap in rocking chair while feeding her.

2:55pm - Sit down to do puzzles with son, who is claiming there is nothing fun to do. (big sister takes over baby duty, and works to keep the soother in or distract fussy baby with teething toys). Soon realize that son has improved greatly in his ability to do puzzles, and send my husband a photo text letting him know about this accomplishment. Wish my husband was home.

3:15- kids restless, daughter asks for a snack and I consent, realizing that I didn’t pay enough attention at breakfast and lunch and so they likely haven’t eaten enough today. Clear away son’s now empty noodle bowl and put out cucumbers and cheese. We sit at the table together and I begin thinking about “what’s for dinner?” while I attempt the gruesome job of spooning cereal into the baby’s mouth. Kids finish snack, claim they are still hungry and I assure them I am just about to start making dinner.

3:25pm – get a closer look at the clock, only to realize it is only 3:25, not 4:25. Audible groan. Rally the troops to get those sugar cookies made – with or without the cookie cutters.

3:27pm - Assemble ingredients, about to call kids to come and start the mixer when I notice they are playing around their sister in the exersaucer, who is not crying – for the first time today!!!! – decide to leave things be and quickly mix the cookies on my own, noticing the recipe's amount of butter does not seem to be cutting it.

3:40pm – hold baby while kids cut out circles (made from a jar ring), and snowmen (cookie cutter stolen from daughter’s kitchen set downstairs). Look around for the sling I thought I went to get earlier in the day. Not seeing it, I one-handedly lift the cookies onto the pan.

3:48pm – realize the extra butter I threw in was too much as I pull the cookie sheet out of the oven. Scrape delicious, but falling apart, cookies onto rack.

4:00pm – sit down at the table with kids to enjoy bits of cookies. Kids are thrilled, don’t seem phased by the fact that we won’t be able to ice and decorate the cookies. We let them melt in our mouths and congratulate ourselves for making such wonderful tasting cookies.

4:20pm – Lay baby on couch with favourite toy and blanket. Sweep up cookie crumbs and dried playdough bits. Unload cupboard of recipe books and search for new sugar cookie recipe.

4:40pm – rescue crying baby from couch, head for rocking chair. Play the fingers in the mouth game again and kiss her nose while she smiles beneath the soother. Tickle her cheek with the tag on her blanket, and lose myself in the thought of how 6 months of her life has flown by.

5:00pm – notice my baby is now sleeping contentedly in my arms. Drop her in crib and head for living room, sidestepping Christmas boxes on the way. Survey state of living room. Matchbox cars, puzzles, teething toys, books. Look to kitchen. Cookies, pans, mixing bowls. Sigh.

5:05pm – realize an hour and a half has flown by since I started to think about supper. Stand in kitchen, look out window at snow sparkling under street lights and watch my older two play kindly together.

5:18pm – notice the freezer door is standing open. Give my head a shake and get to work on dinner.

6:00pm – Hear baby cry as I put soup on table. Get kids started and go feed baby.

6:20pm – agree with daughter’s assessment that the Thai Curry soup is indeed too spicy for kids. Clear their bowls and set out left over noodles from lunch. Contemplate bursting into tears. Sing silly Christmas song with big kids instead. Laugh together over song and notice baby seems happy about the song too. Sing louder.

6:55pm – gather kids in front of computer to Skype with their dad. When he doesn’t answer we try Grandpa and Grandma instead. Chat with them for a while.

7:15pm – Skype with husband. Kids tell him about their day, play crazy in front of the computer. I tell him how I’ve been spinning my wheels all day. He smiles and makes me feel like I'm a great wife and mother in spite of it. Baby gets excited about seeing Daddy on computer.

7:45pm – say goodbye to husband. Rush to get all kids in pajamas and into bed by 8pm. Tuck them in, hug and kiss them goodnight. Feel guilty knowing that if my husband was home he'd read stories and do devotions with them even though it's late...but know I just don't have it in me today. Daughter tells me she had a really fun day. Pray with kids.

8:05pm – Close their door. Heave huge sigh and realize for all the chaos…it’s quiet in the house. Ignore supper dishes still on table and collapse on couch to watch DVD for upcoming Bible Study lesson. Discover anew the book of Malachi and nearly weep over its truth. Miss my husband again and thank God for my wonderful life. Wish I would have done the devotions with my kids in spite of my exhaustion.

8:30pm – take phone call from new friend in town. Chat for 58 minutes about a myriad of things. Savour the adult conversation.

9:28pm – hang up phone. Look around and mentally review list of “after bedtime to-do’s.” Realize I have accomplished very little today and ponder the subject (or lack thereof) as new blog material. Spend 10 minutes on a speed tidy up which results in a bare living room floor and all rogue dishes put away in dishwasher.

9:33pm – Open computer and relive the most (un)productive day ever.

10:49pm – wake up on couch with bad crick in my neck, write final sentence on blog entry and save to edit later.

Turn living room lights off. On the way to bedroom, move Christmas boxes back into garage to sort some other day. Empty full garbage can into bag in garage and feel deeply pleased with my now empty entryway.

11:21pm – turn out light and contemplate the irony of the fact that while I crossed off little to nothing on my to-do list today...I somehow managed to accomplish a lot of more important things.