Playing Catch Up

Wow! Even though summer with 3 kids and hubby home always seems really long while I'm in it, it's gone-in-a-blink. And so, evidently, were all those ideas for posts I had. Hard to find time to type them up when one is constantly washing-to-pack, washing-after-unpacking, and sorting through the ankle-high chaos of 5 people home all summer in a small townhouse. Well, we (mostly) had the summer we wanted. Got to go camping twice, visit friends and family, do lots of lazy day swimming at the pool. Did not make any progress on finishing the basement due to finding out that *that* project is a Commitment. One must draw up suitable blueprints and submit them to the City for Approval. And once Approved, one must provide suitable continuous Evidence of Work Finished. Bleah.....that project will have to wait until we can offer the suitable Commitment to it to make it worth the Hefty Fee that goes along with it. So.... school time has arrived! And all my brain cells are taxed verily to the uttermost with trying to remember and keep straight the details of 3 full time school careers (well, 4, if you count my husband's - I have to plan for his school schedule too). Three sets of paperwork, 3 backpacks, 3 lunches, 3 different bus schedules, 3 sets of Important Dates Not to be Forgotten, 3 sets of school clothes for various weather conditions to be sorted and made ready, etc. The whirlwind in my brain leaves me wondering how my friends with 8 or 9 kids *ever* manage (and/or keep their sanity). After a while I start to feel like the catcher in right field - I do a lot of nothing for a really long time but then I have to be ready to be in just-the-right-place-at-the-right-time or else the whole thing falls apart. Two insane hours in the morning trying to get everyone out the door and matched up with the right bus. Four insane hours in the evening picking them up and getting through the herculean task of playing what I call The Homework General. Oh, and figuring out how to provide a somewhat nutritious dinner in and amongst the chaos. I'm trying to get used to my rather inside out schedule. From say 8:30AM to around 3PM my life is (mostly) my own to schedule. But my crazy busiest time is from 3PM to 10PM doing the bus pickup/ homework/ dinner/ bath/ bed routine. I somehow have to get up at 6AM and have enough steam left over for what is, essentially my "evening shift". And when I say steam, I mean Awake and Functioning On All Cylinders - because when you have any kids with special needs (and 2 of my 3 are) you need an extra special dose of patience. I can do patience. With enough sleep under my belt. I can fake Awake with caffeine. I cannot fake Patience with caffeine. So in the world of my inside out schedule, I am planning for mornings (when possible) to be lazily drink coffee, catch up on blogging, take a nap, organize-the-rest-of-my-day time. Maybe I'll be able to finally write down some of those ideas that went flittering by during the summer. Afternoons for running errands as has been Standard Operating Procedure for the past 2 years. It doesn't look like the Typical Mom schedule, I'm sure. But I have come to realize I value my sanity over industriousness (and an organized house). Happy, healthy kids need a Sane Mommy. Just remember that if you drop by for a visit, you're welcome to come in - just ignore the clutter. I'll get around to it after Little One outgrows his need for getting-attention-by-taking-things-apart. Maybe he'll outgrow it soon. Or maybe I can eventually put my budding engineer to work when things around the house break....hmmmmm.....