Gotta wash these bed sheets, out they go... and into the washer, but I need to put other things to do a full load... back upstairs.
Find older boy doing homework he forgot last night, cuddle with sleepy-head youngest one in bed and get him awake, but can't linger long... because...
Oh, yes! I've gotta sort the boys' clothes, waitaminute, I need to wash their bedsheets and one is navy-blue, so perhaps I should do a dark load first... Rush to our bathroom's hamper and start sorting there too.
Wait! I need to make lunch for the youngest, and the oldest should eat some eggs this morning -- he's been complaining he's starving, dizzy and nauseous before lunch from hunger. Go find him and ask what kind of eggs he wants (fried, hard yolk), prepare them.
Maybe I should eat too, but this kitchen floor's so dirty, I can't even walk on it, gotta sweep it a little. Oh, OK, gotta go to the bathroom now...
Oh! I forgot I need to finish sorting those clothes (my hamper's in the bathroom) and I better get the dark wash in soon, but first I need to soak these grass-stained (from lawn mowing) socks! But wait! The boys's soccer socks could soak together with these... go get them in the boys' bedroom.
Since I'm donwstairs, let me check on the kittens. "Good morning, babies!" Oh, I need to feed them.
In the kitchen, get the cat food out and wash the empty can afterwards, feed cats. I need to read more on how to prevent/ eliminate fleas! Rush to computer and spend several minutes browsing, meanwhile, checking email.
Wait! I forgot to make a sandwich for my son and prepare his lunchbox.(& I need to eat, I didn't have any meals yesterday). Did I start the dark clothes' wash? Hmmm... maybe not. Before that, let me check our bedrooms for any missing dark clothing items.
Then I remember that I need to make sure the cats ate their food andI go downstairs and spend sometime with them. Oops! The dark clothes. Finally get the washer going, think of this post and come to the computer to start writing it. But then I go check the cats in the garage again.
"Where is his backpack?" screams my husband from upstairs, and I also hear crying since someone had to be reprimanded for not coming to the bathroom quickly enough or something.
Find backpack and think again that I need to eat. Stress a bit more about cats and go back to computer to check some natural flea treatment websites. See that I have too many emails from Kohl's and decide to spend a few minutes deleting all older ones from inbox. (I swear that didn't take long). Go back to kitchen and think I need to eat.
Remember I need to call my friend because I want to invite her to eat with us tomorrow and invite her kids to come over this afternoon, get cell phone to look up number, pick up house phone, look at the time (still before 9) and decide that it's too early to call her.
Go to kitchen to eat something, but the sink is full, the dishwasher needs to be loaded, and the cat food cans rinsed and put into the recycling bin. I hear a beep, dark clothes are clean... rush downstairs and empty washer. Spend some minutes rinsing grass-stained socks (I think: "45 minutes wasn't long enough soaking, but I have to get this wash going 'cause it's the heavy cycle which lasts 1h30"). Get washer started.
Open garage door slightly only to see kittens cutely playing on top of a booster seat which is on top of a shelf, weaving around a small soccer goal/net and play-fighting with each other. Rush upstairs to get camera, get back down to cute kitties only to find out that the battery needs to be recharged. Put charger in outlet and head to the office to get the old camera, but then, sit down at the computer to continue this post.
It's 9:44 and I still haven't eaten anything. Or hanged the clean dark clothes in the line to dry. I head out to do that, but first get camera and see if kittens are still in cute position. They were still there, look (one jumped down as soon as I got the camera out)!
............
Guess what? I'm starving, it's 10:30 and I'm still at the computer, first, looking at photos of a little cousin (K's cousin's daughter) who was born yesterday, then, the gorgeous photos of a friend's wedding shower. delicious foods... sigh... hungry!!! (did I mention that yesterday I didn't have one meal, I just snacked & ate one Luna bar all day?)
Ate some fruit (a fig, a nectarine), called my friend and while we talked, ate a banana with Nutella and swept the hallway and some of the kitchen. Talking on the phone is the only thing that allows me to "concentrate" on menial housework tasks such as sweeping, putting away my clothes, etc. Too bad the talk wasn't that long and I had to concentrate & feel stressed just a bit when talking about cats with her so I didn't sweep as much as I should have...
Beep! Second load of laundry ready. Brought the kittens outside for a bit while I hung the clothes, but then was combing through their fur afterwards anxious about fleas (found none). At least the family room situation is sorted out -- my friend's kids are coming over in the afternoon to see and play with the train-track, that way we can pull it a part and put the pieces away so I can vacuum the first floor (it's been 3 weeks...). The boys won't let us dismantle the track without these particular friends seeing it. Sigh...
Now, if I can just concentrate long enough to clean the rest of the house... Sigh. I wish I had more people to call. (12 pm now). I hear car noise outside. It's the mail! Gotta go get it!
Time magazine is here, but I will be strong and resist and not open it, and neither the Land's End catalog & Costco magazine. More free address labels in the mail (St. Jude's Hospital). 3 so far in K's name and only 1 in mine. I guess these marketers know who the "head of the household" is. ;) K's calling... he agrees with my plan not to cook lunch for tomorrow and eat at the academy's cafeteria instead, yay!
(before moving on to cleaning some windows, particularly the front glass door, I spent 15 minutes checking new blog posts in my feed. i know, I'm really bad)
Confession: I browsed Time as I ate a plate of leftover rice with scrambled eggs & sipped lemonade. First real meal in, maybe 36+ hours. On to do some more cleaning. It's 1:12, gotta pick up the boys (and their friends) at 2. I hope it's not a disaster to have those 4 kids this afternoon. ;)
Swept floor of laundry "closet" and downstairs bathroom,cleaned sink and started dishwasher before heading out to pick up kids at school (stopping at hardware store first) -- today they get off at 2 pm. Before leaving, had to rearrange stuff in the back of mini-van to bring the back seats up.
Classic example: Got back home with the kids, friend's daughter went straight to the garage to see kittens with Linton. I was there with them for a while and then decided to change their water. On my way into the house I spilled some water on the hallway and had to dry it. As I was drying, I got distracted by the boys playing with trains and as I walked into the family room and looked out the back door window, I remembered that the clothes were probably dry outside. I headed out and collected the kids' bedsheets. Good thing I came back in through the garage because on my way in, I saw the cats' water dish still waiting to be refilled... I refilled it, brought a big toy to store upstairs and now I'm here, but I have to go back and make the boys' beds...
The infuriating thing is that these little lapses & distractions happen hundreds of times a day, and concentrating
long enough to get anything actually done is a minute by minute challenge which I often lose.
By 4:30 I finally got the boys' beds done, but with some significant detours... I went to clean the litter box and realized that it would be good to simply get rid of the old litter, wash the pan and put fresh one in... to make a long story short, I ended up sanitizing and washing (outside with a hose) our tall trash container, because its smell was so awful I nearly puked! Then I filmed the train track which we're pulling apart today.. and did other things I can't even remember. (like putting new refills in my wall flowers)
I think it's about time I publish this post. I still have TONS of things to do today, I have to collect the rest of the clean laundry from the line and try to fold & put it away, I need to figure what to cook for dinner (poor K didn't have lunch), clean the kitchen, vacuum the house, including downstairs after we dismantle the train. Good thing K is coming home... oh, and I have to put away the foods he's bringing, the clean dishes from the dishwasher... Sigh. And I think this is the most boring post ever. :)
P.S. people are talking of a long weekend (e.g. my friend Aliki), but K & I don't have one (the boys do). :( I'm still glad it's Friday, though...
One last thing, if by any chance you don't know, what ADHD is, see here.
I just found your blog through Anastasia. I'm an Argentinean transplant. I did my Phd in the US and now is fortunate enough to have a TT job. I don't have kids, and i'm anything but a housewife, but I've dealt with some of the same issues you mentioned regarding ADD. I've written about them in my blog (under the category ADD). I think you could find them helpful.
ReplyDeleteWow, crazy day! I don't have ADHD but I can identify with a lot of it! Today I have to get a lot done myself and I need to make a clear plan (checking things off a list?) or I will probably get way too distracted with unimportant stuff (especially internet stuff!)
ReplyDeleteActually, though, I think one of my problems is the opposite of yours-- you notice everything that needs to be done and attend to it right away (even if you were supposed to be doing something else) whereas most of the time the myriad things that need to be done in my house go completely undetected by me, unless I am suddenly forced into taking a good look around with a critical eye, resulting in shock and despair...
wow! its a amazing day, isn't it? hahaha..
ReplyDeletehi im G and i think im an ADHD too :)
while read this i thinking "is she write about me?" hahaha..
well, nice to visiting your blog, and thank you for this charming line :D
It was like you were in my brain. My ADHD is in full swing today on top of being tired and overwhelmed. Thanks for making a place where I don't feel alone.
ReplyDelete