It's a relative term, right? I think there was a time when C & C were little and Steve traveled 100% and I would qualify my life as busy. And that's true. But it was a different busy from now. Way different. That was a hormonal, sleep deprived, lonely kind of busy- when I completely relied on play dates and errands to fill my day... when I would talk on the phone to girlfriends for hours and scrapbook in the evenings when the boys were down.
Nowadays I just wish I could find the time to run errands or talk on the phone. And don't get me started on scrapbooking. It's highly likely at this point, Brenner won't even get a baby book. Life has changed for sure. Having two feet in elementary school and one foot in preschool (yes, I have 3 legs) keep things very interesting. I'm very lucky now to have Steve home in the evenings. Actually Brenner wouldn't have been created had Steve not changed his job situation. Considering all we juggle every day, I think we make it work as best as we can. We have our roles. We give it 100%. We collapse in bed every night from utter exhaustion. Our semester is winding down, so we both are starting to see the light at the end of this busy, dark tunnel. Our calendar is crazy. If you were to look at it you would see 5 colors written all over every day. Even Brenner has places to go and people to see. Some times I long for the old life- where Steve traveled and I just did whatever I wanted (and C & C would just tag along). No major cooking, small grocery bills, TV watching every evening, laundry always done.... it was so simple then really. Why did I think I was busy then?
I'm a list girl. My to-do list is exceptionally long at this point of the year. However, I do find it gratifying to be crossing some things off my list. I've been waking every night around 3am thinking of things that have to go on the list. Heaven forbid I forget to send in money for the book fair, or print the recital program, or drop off the dry cleaning. Recently I've been able to cross off some bigger things on my list- like playing at Soul Sisters on Monday nights or Carter's soccer season. After this week I'll be able to cross off piano for the next few months. I see summer approaching quickly and I think I'll collapse right into it. I have some friends that have been trying to set a date to celebrate my birthday. Um, that was in December. Yep, at this point we've decided to make it a half birthday and May 31st is officially on the calendar.
Any given night either Steve or I are at home- never both of us (and sometimes it's neither of us, just the babysitter.) I heard from a friend that our babysitter thinks we go on lots of dates. I had to chuckle. I wish we were hiring her because the two of us were going out with each other. Not the case. We did have a date on April 9th. I think we ate at Patrizios. Last Friday we got to eat dinner together as a family of 5 for the first time in about two months. It was actually kind of weird. Usually I prepare some kind of meal and we all just eat when it works for our schedule. So, what exactly have we been doing that keeps us so busy?
Steve has his job at Baylor Healthcare which involves a 80 mile commute each day. He will be changing companies as of Friday. (Another thing to cross off the list). He will soon be employed by United Health Care and will cut his commute in half. After his "normal" job he usually leaves to go umpire somewhere in the metroplex or he comes home to take one of the boys to their sporting activity. On top of his NTSO umpiring he is also on the board of the HVABSA baseball as the chief umpire. With this third job he schedules and trains all the umpires- about 80 people. Throw in the fact that some coaches and parents at the games this spring have been acting like complete assholes to his umpires, he now has added responsibilities of "Red Hatting" where he gets to go observe such noted games so as to better deal with the situation. I'm secretly looking forward to hearing about the time Steve James goes ape-shit on some parent or coach and suspends them for the season. It will be long overdo and a well deserved verbal beat down by my husband.
And now me. I run the house. Well, I attempt to run the house. You know all that mommy stuff- laundry, homework, meals, etc... I keep up with the 2 year old and teach 14 children piano (and also parent my 7 and 10 year old.) My house has kids coming and going at all times. I'm blessed to work at home and work with such amazing kids. It is however, very exhausting and time consuming. Trying to balance it all can be daunting. I've also been the pianist at Soul Sisters on Monday nights (bible study with about 400 women). That requires rehearsals and lots of practice on my own. Add that to my keyboard playing every other Sunday (3 services now) with Wednesday night rehearsal and practice on my own. I've been going to boot camp and yoga up to 4 days a week while also serving on the PTA board at school. I'm responsible for the school scrapbook. Ironic, huh? Well, I'm up to September 20th right now. Yep, that means I've done August and 2/3 of September. Did I mention I'm suppose to have that finished in mid-June? Ha. Yeah, right. Next fall I'm moving to the Parliamentarian position of PTA. It sounded kinda easy until I was given a copy of the By-Laws and Standing Rules for the State of Texas and told to be very familiar with the 50 page documents (this handed to me after our 5 hour budget meeting last Friday.) I thought I'd just get to swing a gavel at the meetings.
My favorite time of day is 2:00. You know why? Brenner is napping, The big boys are still at school. Elfy is snoring on her dog bed. And Maury Povich is on TV. There's just something so stupid about watching various men getting tested to see if they are in fact the baby daddy. Every show is the same. The audience boos and applauds on cue. The mother either runs off stage embarrassed that she brought the wrong guy to the show or she jumps up in the guy's face screaming, "I told you so!" My favorite part is when Maury assures the women that he will do everything he can find the father of her baby. I'm sure these women continually bring different guys on the show not to show that they are complete sluts, but just because they like the free trip to Connecticut. I've even asked Steve if he'd like for me to call up the show. I've never been to Connecticut. I'm sure they'd put us in a nice hotel room. And this might just be the only way we'll get to take a vacation. Steve's thought about it. He thinks we should test Carter. He's the one that looks the least like Steve. Who knows, our crazy schedule just might have us calling Maury one day. You know, just for the free vacation.
And while trying to balance our personal schedules we have our 3 active boys. Lucky for us they are all well adjusted, academically successful, healthy children. Caleb swam Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night this whole school year. Every night one of us would leave the house at 6:10 with him and not return until 7:30. That swim prep team is over as of May 1st and he now swims for the Blue Fins with practices only 2 times a week. Once school is out he'll be swimming every morning.
Monday and Thursday nights were Carter's soccer practice nights. (Remember I also played piano on Monday nights at church and Caleb swims). Baseball practice was on Sunday afternoons and Tuesday or Wednesday night each week as well. Then there were all the baseball and soccer games and the occasional swim meet.
Brenner has MDO on Wednesday and Friday and play group on Tuesdays once or twice a month. It's during those play groups that I remember how simple life once was. Just some moms hanging out with their little ones swapping stories about the funny things their kids have done lately. I'm thankful to have that time for Brenner when he gets to be my main focus. Most of the time he just gets to go with the flow- spending endless hours in the car seat watching Thomas the Train videos as the older brothers go to their various practices and games.
So we're busy. Are we busier than other families? Probably not. Just a different busy. I remember thinking before we had Brenner that my life was pretty easy. I had plenty of time to keep up with everything. I was busy, but it was manageable. Nowadays I feel like I'm in the middle of a tornado just hoping to land somewhere safe when it's over. Overwhelmed doesn't begin to explain it. I choose to take it one day at a time. Thankfully I have a husband who is happy to eat apples, popcorn, cheese, and crackers for dinner most nights. I'm also thankful that my parents recognize how insane my life has become and offered to take my boys this weekend (after my piano recital and 2 baseball games). So, we have about 36 hours kid free. Then looking at the calendar we realized that Saturday night and Sunday afternoon Steve is scheduled to umpire while Sunday morning I'm scheduled to play at church. So, we won't really be seeing each other at all this weekend. Oh, the irony. Lucky for me Steve has requested to be released of his Saturday night games so we can have a date. Dinner with just the 2 of us. Can't wait. And the fact that my children will be with my parents on Mother's Day suits me fine. The nicest thing my kids can do for me is give me some free time to not be the mom. Who knows... maybe I'll pull out my scrapbook stuff.
