A Day In The SAH Life

It's been busy around here.  So busy, that I sometimes write things that I don't get to post in a timely fashion.  So here's one from last week.  

A day in the stay-at-home life is...  well, never the same twice.  Some days are super-chill.  Others are jam-packed.  And most fall somewhere in between.  Like today.  I would rate it a 6 on the 1-10 scale of SAH (stay at home) difficulty.

The kids each woke up last night.  Neither woke each other with their whining and talking, but each woke me.  Then I opened my eyes this morning to more of Caden's whining about Lovie having fallen to the floor.  I'm sure it had nothing to do with him tossing it over the edge so I'd have to come.  He kept up this lovely whine for about fifteen minutes.  Over everything and nothing.  But we got breakfast taken care of.  Thanks to Travis who was on Addison duty while I tended to Caden.  As he walked out the door, Travis unintentionally jinxed the rest of my day by saying, "I'm glad we got that out of the way."  Riiiiiiight.  Maybe it's just me, but I find that tantrums are like sleep.  They tend to beget more of the same.  All to say, I'd MUCH prefer to have been wrong, but alas...

Travis left for work and the challenges commenced.  Whatever the situation, Caden was Mr. Crotchity.  He wanted to go outside but it was too cold, so he moped and whined and cried.  He was hungry but found what I made for breakfast to be sub-par.  He didn't want to get dressed, so there was kicking, flailing, crying and the like.  He wanted desperately to paint, so I had to fight the battle of getting him undressed (he hated that idea) or making him wear an apron (he hated that idea too) so as not to ruin his brand new outfit.  After we finally struck a deal and I prepped all the paint, paper and cleaning supplies, he made a few swipes with the brush and announced that he was done.  At which point I noticed Addison covering herself in paint.  She went to the sink, only for Caden to shout that he neeeeeeded the step stool to play in the sink.  I obliged and he then set about trying to turn every kitchen utensil I gave him into a hammer.  Rinse, repeat.  Rinse, repeat.  You get the idea.  I am counting down the minutes until nap time and it's only 10:00.

I break out the really big guns around 11:30 and drag our sand and water table inside.  It's filled with rainbow rice, which I know will get spilled, but I don't care.  It will keep them busy.  So I let them play as I prep lunch and clean up the playroom.  And then vacuum the kitchen floor.  No less than five times before closing up the table on account of intentional rice spillage.

It's at this point that I realize Caden is working himself into a better place.  And I start to think that maybe I wasn't so right to feel a sense of foreboding this morning.  That is, until Addison charges into the kitchen completely naked.  You might not think that to be such a big accomplishment, until you realize that she was dressed in a long sleeve T and overalls.  The kind with buttons for the bib and two fairly snug buttons on each hip.  Overalls that were none too big on her to start.  And the diaper?  Well that was apparently the easiest of all.  We dashed off to the potty, so that I didn't have to come down on her for getting naked, and she actually went!  Of course, just to keep things real she bonked her upper lip on the edge of the sink and she had a fat lip from then until lunch.  Which reminds me, while I'm holding a screaming Addison and checking to make sure she hadn't done any major damage (it was a pretty good hit) I kept hearing Caden in the kitchen whining about something being too tight.  By the time I get Addison taken care of and get in there I find him sitting in his feeding chair, struggling to buckle his seat belt because of his bunched up pants.  He's nearing meltdown mode so I jump into action getting him squared away, then I plop Addison into her chair, get lunch onto the table and microwave a gigantic bowl of Mexican melting cheese.  I just have a feeling that I am going to need it.

And I did.  While lunch was pretty uneventful, and the going down for naps went better than I had thought, I had been back downstairs just long enough to clean up the kitchen when I checked the monitor to see why the kids were so chatty.  Lambie-Pie was halfway to getting naked again.  By the time I got upstairs Caden had gotten in on the fun.  So we had to get dressed all over again before bedding down for the second time.

Yes, it's 2:00 now and I would love nothing more than to collapse into sleep.  Partly for the rest it would bring, but mostly because I could tune out and just breathe.  Be alone, without anyone whining, tugging on my leg or demanding anything.  Be still.  No sound except the baby monitor.  Refresh.  So that I can refill my tank before my second shift starts.  But I don't.  Instead of trying to forget it all, I sit and blog about it so that I can remember these days for all time.  With my beloved Mexican melting cheese here by my side.