So busy. So tired.

So today was therapy day. I woke up and my whole day was geared toward taking the baby to therapy. It is an all-day process. It starts at 12:30 but we have to be there no later than 12:15 because she needs to eat before her session starts. We live half an hour away so we have to leave absolutely no later than 11:45, but closer to 11:30 for wiggle room. The baby normally has a morning nap til about noon so I have to wake her early and dress her and get her ready to go, etc.

So the whole day revolves around her physical therapy. It is no big deal when the kids are in school, except now they're out. So I take them to the therapy center and they crawl over the room like ants, inspecting every corner and plaything in there. They weren't bad,jus tnoisy and curious. They didn't seem to bother the therapist. Stephie worked hard and came home tired.

But when we came home I felt like I had to do ten things all needing my attention at once. First, the baby drank her milk at the center but needed a jar of food. She snarfed it in 5 minutes and I had to put her down. I was hungry but I also needed to pump so I could refill by the time she needs to eat again at 4. Then I got to sit down and eat for a minute. I have a headache.

While I was pumping, I asked the kids to pick up the living room. It wasn't enough that I asked them to pick up the living room, I also had to go item by item. Put *this* away, put *that* away. Drives me nuts because they will be 12 and 8 and they have been cleaning the house for a while. They know what to do but I have to be a helicopter and physically make them do it.

I read somewhere that kids do that, but I thought it was when they were closer to being teenagers? I know Jonathan is close, but still. I remember reading two things on the subject. One said that you cannot just tell a kid to clean their room, they must be told specifically what to do, line by line, otherwise they will do the minimum required. It may be easier and faster to do it for them, but to teach the kids to be responsible, they must do it.

The second thing was where a mom had a few kids close in age and they had to take turns cleaning the kitchen, and she listed on a piece of paper exactly what they were supposed to do, down to "throw the dishwasher tablet wrapper in the trash" because she apparently had given birth to the Loophole Gang. Any excuse to do the minimum.

So while I was drill sergeanting my kids, I also thought about what else still needed to be done. Wash dishes, maintain the bathroom, maintain the entryway and sort through the basket of house stuff I cleaned out of the car, vaccuum the living room & clear off the coffee table, clean off the bar again even though I did it 2 days ago, and make dinner, of course. Then, repeat washing dishes...

It never ends. Well rather than jump right on the dishes, I decided to sit down and unload my brain onto the blog. I cannot believe it is 4PM now and I have to feed the baby again! Time flies when you're mentally reviewing your to-do list.

Feed baby, make dinner, wash all dishes rather than washing them twice, do a dirty laundry round up, vaccuum living room and hall, clear coffee table and bar, plan tomorrow's dinner, sort the basket of car stuff, bathe the baby and get the kids' evening routine going. Ugh. Between 4 and 8:30 is my busiest time. I'm tired just thinking about it.