Wednesday, January 23, 2008

How It Is For You

This is something I wonder about a lot: What is normal for you all? Is it normal for you to still be in your sweatshirt and pajama pants at one o' clock in the afternoon because there hasn't been a good window yet for showering (and you are way too fond of sleep to get up before the kids to shower?)
Do you usually sit down and eat lunch with your kids, and all have the same nutritionally balanced meal, and talk happily about your day? Or do you usually take the opportunity of having your kid strapped in a chair and busy eating spaghetti-os AND shredded wheat to unload the dishwasher without her grabbing at the steak knives? And then do you find that it's four o'clock and all you've eaten is bits and pieces of whatever your kids were snacking on and suddenly you are STARVED?
Do you space out at the computer in between diaper changes and sippee cup distribution and baths, then jolt back up in an hour so, feeling guilty, and morph into Mary Poppins for the next hour to make up for your negligence?
Do you find grocery shopping still to be confusing and frustrating? Do you buy oranges, only to have them rot in the produce drawer forever, and then a month later buy some and watch your family eat their way through two bags in a week? Let's make up our mind about the oranges, people! Yay or nay?!
Does your toddler have a special pooping spot in the house, which is not the actual potty, of course, but a room into which he or she must run and hide, and then emerge from moments later demanding a diaper change?
Or this all just me?

21 comments:

CAQuincy said...

Wow.

I have no babies currently (and no plans for one!), but that description is just about SPOT ON for how MY DAYS go.

Um....except I usually get all Mary Poppins-y during the early afternoon, when I realize I have about an hour until my hubs gets home from work, and I feel guilty about my slack-like day(WHY? SERIOUSLY?) and start charging through the house like I'm a kid again afraid my mother is going to come home and I haven't done my chores!

Pathetic.

Jess said...

I don't have kids, so I would have to respond N/A to most of those, but I can definitely say that on weekends I sometimes don't shower until well in the afternoon, and produce rots in our fridge on a regular basis. And I don't have the excuse of demanding children. So it definitely isn't just you.

mamashine said...

Other people's children show up at 7:30, so there are days I don't shower at all. sshhhh. And today I am wearing a sweatshirt and jeans, only because I feel like too much of a slug to be actually working in pajama pants. This morning I debated calling a pajama day next week so I didn't have to get dressed. Seriously.

And the produce thing happens here even with seven kids to eat it. One day I peeled 17 tangerines at one snacktime, and then the next time I bought them they went bad because nobody would even try one.

Mumbling Mom said...

Um...yeah...that's basically how it goes. If it wasn't for having to get them off to school, I might never get out of pajamas. I couldn't have written that better myself!

jen said...

We totally do the oranges thing, only with bananas.

I'm usually dressed. But I'm also usually wearing the same shirt every day for a few days unless I have to go somewhere. In which case I put a "nice" shirt on, and then put my grody spit up shirt back on when I return.

I shower at night with the baby. He likes it, and I don't have to wait for a "window" or wonder if he's crying or put him in the bouncer and constantly open and close the shower door to see if he's crying.

I veg a lot. Computer comes before housework. I don't feel guilty because if I don't, then I get screamy with the children. No mary poppins can fix that. I just fly by the seat of my pants... let them play... plan a specific activity... or I'll take 2 random toys out and let them play with it. If it's new, it'll keep them occupied.

Anonymous said...

Yes.

Although I have recently started getting up before the kid in order to shower and I am BITTER about it. Horribly bitter.

d e v a n said...

OMG. Are you SPYING on me?

How did you know I spend many days in my PJ's?
How did you know I struggle at lunch time? (what? cheerios and bologna can be lunch...)
How did you know that I feel guilty after playing online and then ban myself for awhile so I can play with the kids?

Also, oranges? Totally laughing because I have a bag about to rot right now. 2 weeks ago d ate an entire bag in a few days.

Lainey-Paney said...

Yes.
that's pretty much me.

My normal:
I work 3 days a week, stay home 4.
So, on my 2 weekday SAHM days, I have coffee until naptime.
At naptime, that's when I usually eat, clean, watch TV, blog, and sometimes think of napping, but never actually nap myself.

I rarely get dressed on those days, but make teeth brushing mandatory! I may or may not even run a brush through my hair!
But, if I have some place to go, then obviously those things (washing face, hair, make up) must be tended to...

The fruit thing: oh, that's totally us. One week blueberries are the favorite, and they are not cheap I might add. The next week---you can't get him to eat them. So, random fruits spoil around here. As does yogurt. Sometimes you can't buy it quick enough before it flies off the fridge shelves...other times, you go to grab one thinking "if I don't eat this, it's never going to get eaten", and then check the date---expired 2 weeks ago...
hmph.

Grocery shopping: I've got that down! Tips: don't take your kid(s), coupons rock my world, plan meals for 2 weeks, but don't forget to buy keep-happy snacks for the gang... Other tip: buy pie crusts & cookie dough when they are on sale b/c you can freeze them & whip them out when someone gets a sweets craving...

Lainey-Paney said...

Oh---and yes, my 2yo son is afraid of pooping in the potty, and has little areas of the house where he likes to go & poop.
Odd thing about my child: he likes to poop laying down. So, that's what he does. He lays either in the dining room, in the kitchen under the table, or in his nursery behind the rocker. He also wants me there, but not to look at him. Just....moral support, I suppose.
Kids are so weird.

Swistle said...

Okay, except for the showering (I DO manage that, because otherwise I am a Terrible Bitch) (more so than usual, I mean), that is basically my life, yes. The rotting produce. The Mary Poppins-ish behavior to make up for hours blogging. The children's poop corner. The doing dishes/laundry while children are strapped down. The sudden awareness that what I had for lunch was half a bag of 3 Musketeers Minis, eaten without me even really noticing it.

Anonymous said...

Not trying to be anonymous - just SDH's Mom who forgot her password. MY "baby" is 19, but this post REALLY brought back memories. Just wanted to see if any of you have discovered the new SNICKERS bars that have extra caffeine folded in the lovely layers of chocolate? Sounds like lunch to me :)

Laura said...

Nothing is normal for me anymore. I get angry at myself for serving dinner at 8, when it was always 5:30, for staying in my pajamas all day on a lot of days. I'm still trying to find normal in this new life that I didn't ask for.

Lisa said...

Yup - it's not you. I could have written this...I'm a hybrid of you and lainey-paney.
I work outside of the house 3 days/week, so those days are different and help keep me feeling a little together some how.
I get computer guilt too.
The produce phenomenon is so weird. We all have good intentions, at least we're trying to feed the kids healthy snacks.
Eli is still so little, it gets easier.

LoriD said...

When I'm home (like on weekends, holidays), this is totally me. The rest of the time (work days), I run my life like a well-oiled machine. I eat better, my house is cleaner, I look polished. Much like a small child, I need routine to function.

Don Mills Diva said...

Um... yes, yes, yes , yes , yes yes and no - it's not just you.

New reader - love your site!

email said...

PERFECTLY NORMAL... I hope.

Banana said...

Ha! The pooping spot. When I was a nanny, the little boy would go to the same corner at about the same time each day, say "Want Banana go away" and then proceed to do his business. Cracked me up everytime.

Mommy Daisy said...

I have to get a shower...EVERY DAY. That doesn't mean I do it before noon. Usually I get one right away, but about once or twice a month I don't get it until naptime (which is after lunch).

Lunch can go either way. He usually eats something good. I rarely sit and eat with him. I usually wait until he's down for a nap.

Ha ha, Yes, I do the computer thing for way too long. Then I realize it's the end of the day and I shuld tidy up and get supper started. Ugh, I wish there was a better way. Most days being able to be on the computer keeps my sanity.

We go in spurts with groceries too. I'll never figure it out.

No pooping spot here. But I know when he's pooping, and he'll deny it if I ask. It's pretty funny.

Guess you're not alone. ;)

Melanie D. said...

Oh my goodness, this was funny! I do lots of these things...only without the dish doing or the Mary Poppins playing. I'm mostly spacing out at the computer and snacking. Inefficient is my middle name. Oh - and on the weekends? Pajamas sometimes 'round the clock.

Black Sheeped said...

I hate the produce rotting. We do it too, and, it's just the two of us.

Mairzy said...

Wow, I don't know what's wrong with you. I'd never feel a rush of relief when I get all three kids seated at the table, eating, so I can get the floor swept without "help."

I never get to the end of the afternoon and realize that I've eaten the whole darn pan of marshmallow-crushed-cereal bars that I didn't really like in the first place.

And I'd NEVER have to post a sign on the computer cabinet: "No playing on the computer till after lunch. That includes Mama. Not even email. Nope."

Just so you know that there are PERFECT housewives out there. :)