I thought it might be interesting to document what our typical day looks like….you know…incase you need a cure for your insomnia.
5:45-Leo wakes up. Luke or I (who am I kidding? Always Luke) takes him a graham cracker and makes sure he has his water and his current love, a Lightening McQueen car which he affectionately calls “my racecar.” That probably bought us another 30 minutes.
6:15-We give into the fact that Leo is up for good, put him in front of the TV and turn on Umizoomi—his favorite.
6:30-Jackson and Patrick come up to join Leo in front of the TV. They come upstairs with smiles. Within minutes, a mild to extreme (depending on the day) battle over what is for snack and what is to drink ensues.
Me: No, you may not have 3 packages of fruit snacks before breakfast.
Patrick: I don’t want THAT sippy cup!
Jackson: NO! Don’t shake up my chocolate milk!
and 3 minutes later
Jackson: MOOOOMM…You didn’t shake up my chocolate milk!
6:40-spend a few moments talking through who is the “Kid of the Day” so we know who gets to choose the next TV show.
7:15ish-Dominic wakes up (although, as our sleeper, sometimes he’ll sleep until 8….lucky!) I take breakfast orders. Right now, Dominic is requesting omelets with mushrooms, cheese and ham. Jackson wants french toast sticks (which we almost never have) and Patrick and Leo can, luckily, be talked into just about anything (scrambled eggs, frozen waffles or pancakes or donuts made from biscuits).
7:45-Kiddos are finishing up breakfast and I sit down for my own breakfast. 2 or more littles are, inevitably, at my feet begging for bites. Didn’t I just feed you?
8:00-8:30-Kiddos get dressed. Jackson get super stressed because he cannot find his blue shorts that he MUST wear under his pants-even if it is 7 degrees out. Patrick begs me to go get him clothes because it is “soooo far downstairs and I’m soooo tired.” Dominic searches the house for his Husker pull-over sweatshirt. He’s worn it almost everyday since Christmas and I can only get it from him every 3 or 4 days to throw it in the washing machine. Luckily, Leo doesn’t care what he wears, so we don’t have to fight over that, but usually getting him dressed is like wrestling a greased pig and I feel lucky if he’s dressed before giving me any bruises.
8:30: Kiddos play while I run around cleaning up breakfast, starting laundry, cleaning bedrooms, etc. They play SO well together now. They are making all kinds of blanket forts out of various tables and chairs and can make an hour game with a Robin and Batman action figure. Dominic is the one who keeps the brothers playing well together. He’s a great problem solver and can almost always convince his younger brothers to take turns or share.
9:00: Go to the Y. The three big kiddos love Leap ‘n’ Learn and the teachers there are amazing. I love hearing them talk about their friends there. “Michael is the fastest boy ever, mom. Except God. No one is faster than God,” Patrick told me recently. When I’m on the elliptical, they’ll walk by to the track and wave and yell, “Hi, mom!” and sometimes I’ll even get the I Love You sign from Jackson, too. Melts my heart. I am SO thankful for the Y. My 45 minutes a day there with the kiddos enjoying their friends has been one of my greatest mommy blessings.
11:00: Kiddos clean up the living room while I work on lunch. They are really good at cleaning up, especially when they have a silly incentive, like a smiley face sticker on a chart which doesn’t mean anything.
11:15: Since I won’t give into Macaroni and cheese every day, we usually have it 2 days a week and leftovers the rest of the days.
11:45: Dominic runs around looking for his Husker Sweatshirt, if he hasn’t been wearing it all day and the glove he’s probably missing before Luke gets home to take him to Pre-K.
12:05: Luke and D are out the door. Not before Dominic gives a round of kisses and hugs and usually an extra kiss in my hand that I can save for later, incase I miss him 
The twins and I play a quick game. Chutes and Ladders, the Superhero Squad version is a favorite right now. Or we’ll play Spider-8’s, Go Fish (one of 3 versions we have) or Old Maid.
12:25: The kiddos watch one TV, chosen by the Kid of the Day while I finish cleaning the kitchen or catch up on e-mail. Then, off to naps. For all four of us some days!
The rest of the afternoon is typically a bust. When the kiddos get up, they play by themselves while I finish up whatever I worked on during the wonderful silence of nap time.
2:45: Get Leo out of his crib. He stands up and says, “Can you carry my blankie? Can you carry my ah-wah? Can you carry my race car?” and then raises his little arms to be lifted up. He loves to snuggle right after he gets up is so warm and lovey. It’s the best. Some days, he’ll run and get a book and repeat over and over, “Let’s read a book, mom!”
3:15: We pick Dominic up from school. He’s usually excited to see me, but also restrained—it’s begun, I suppose. He climbs into the car and I ask to see what he brought home for me. “No, mom. Not until we get home!” I’ll say, “Tell me about your day” and then after he tells us a few things he’ll say to Jackson and Patrick, “So, tell me about your day!”
3:15-5:00-Dominic starts coloring or cutting almost the moment he gets in the door. Sometimes his brothers will join him or we’ll have projects or baking to do.
5:00-Clean up again and kiddos help with dinner or are shoo-ed to the basement-depending on my patience level that particular day.
5:30-Send kiddos downstairs with the TV and do a quick Shakedown (that’s the massive clean up at the end of the day meant to fool Luke into thinking our day was calm and peaceful and that the living room floor was visible all day long)
5:40-Spend a few, precious moments talking with Luke before the kiddos realize he is home. “Dad—I want to pick out your clothes.” Some nights he’ll change from his suit into an orange pair of boxers and a ripped, thin t-shirt because that’s what Patrick picked out!
6:00-Dinner. Kiddos go around and say their best and worst, starting with the Kid of the Day. Leo is the funniest to listen to. His MO every night used to be, “My best and worst dat, ummmmm……Daddy’s turn!” Now he will say a few things (whatever his brothers before him said, probably) and then say, “Ummm…pass to….ketchup!” then tip his head back and laugh so hard at himself. The other boys think it’s hilarious, too, which really get’s Leo going. “Pass to….orange cup!” and Leo again laughs at himself!
Some nights at dinner are so chaotic, we end up playing a 5 minutes long game of “Little Red School House” (a.k.a. the quiet game) so Luke and I can get in 2 words.
7:00-After dinner, Luke wrestles with the kiddos for a half an hour while I clean up dinner. Every bit of these little kiddos screams BOY! They could wrestle with daddy all. night. long. Usually, Luke just lays there while the four boys climb on him, pull at him, sometimes hit him, rarely bite him (Leo). At least one little ends up in tears or in time out. Apparently this is all fun and worth it though. This momma of all boys still just doesn’t get it!
7:30-Bath time. Luke has baths down to an absolute science and I’m usually in charge or lotioning and clothing the kids. Two at a time while the other two run around the house buck naked. Some nights I remember to close the curtains to keep the neighbors from getting curious about what kind of house we are running….some nights I forget.
7:45-Prayers. We ask the kiddos patrons to pray for us and pray for our family and friends. During Lent, we quickly walked through the stations of the cross. Amazingly, the three big kids could tell us all 14 of the stations by Easter.
8:00-Bed. It takes us a good 20 minutes to get all kiddos tucked in. Every night, the kiddos get one song or two, depending on how ready this momma is for her quiet time at the end of the day. Current favorites are “Where is Thumbkin?,” “Five Little Monkeys,” “Silly ABC’s,” or a random Easter Hymn.
8:15-Silence. This would be an excellent time for projects or catching up on my to-do list, but more often than not I’m just ready to sit and talk to Luke or decompress with an episode of the Office. Luke and I will hash out the days’ happenings and cute things the kids did. We’ll marvel at how easy it is to love those kiddos when they are sleeping!
10:30ish-Off to bed to get ready to do it all again!
No comments:
Post a Comment