Brittainy Qualls of Garland has been a stay-at-home mom for seven years. She has 9-year-old twin girls, McKenna and Avery, and a 4-year-old, Maizy Kate. She has been married to her husband Zach for 10 years.
6AM Maizy wakes up. I get her up and get her changed and dressed. There is still a load of clothes in the washer that I put in last night; I put those in the dryer. During this time, Maizy has busted into her sisters’ room and woken them up. They come into the kitchen whining that they are still tired and want breakfast.
7AM Start making breakfast, but everyone wants something different, so this may take a while. Mental note: We need bread. When they’re done, I clean up the floor, the table and the dishes.
8AM Maizy has a doctor’s appointment today. If I want to be there on time, I need to start getting ready to go now. I jump in the shower.
9:30AM I can finally finish drying my hair and put on my make-up. The phone rings, and it’s my grandma. This conversation lasts 45 minutes, at which point I hang up and try to continue getting ready to go.
10:30AM I finally get dressed and pick out some clothes for the kids. I get Maizy dressed and start lunch.
11:15AM I have lunch ready and the kids sit down to eat, bringing their list of demands with them. “Can I have Coke to drink?” “I didn't want this to eat!” “Can I take my lunch to my room? I want to watch TV.” I sit down to eat a bite; usually it's PB&J every single day. I clean the table, put the dishes in the dishwasher and change Maizy's clothes.
12:30PM My husband calls me from work. He has gotten something stuck in his teeth and his head is hurting, so he needs me to bring him some floss and ibuprofen (Yes, this actually happened). So I load up all the kids after searching for a lost flip flop. I remember to bring Maizy's shot records, and we drive the 15 minutes to Daddy’s work to drop off floss and meds. Now it’s time to go to the appointment for Maizy.
1:45PM When we get there, I chase Maizy through the waiting room while trying to fill out forms and break up the constant fighting between the twins. They call us back, and we wait in that room for close to an hour before the doctor comes in. We finally leave at 3:35pm. When we get home, I realize I never laid anything out for dinner and we still need bread. So we all load up and head to the grocery store. This is a beating for me, because the kids hate going to the store, and I'm pretty sure the store hates when we come. The next 30 minutes consist of me saying the words “No!” and “Stop!” at least 600 times.
5:30PM We get home, and I send all of the kids to the their room to play while I start dinner. I am attempting to make chicken breasts in the oven. During the next hour, the kids are coming in and out of the kitchen wanting something to drink or tattling on each other.
6:30PM My husband will be home in about 15 minutes, so we set the table and get drinks ready. Then we sit down to eat.
7:15PM We are done. My husband gets off work at 6:30pm, so where is he? I call him – he is going to be late tonight – probably won't be home until after 9pm. I wrap up his dinner and stick it in the microwave. Then I clean the table and try to sweep all the rice off the floor. When I'm done cleaning up the dinner mess, I start the baths for the kids. This whole process takes at least an hour.
8:15PM They all get out, we get on PJs, brush hair, brush teeth, read a story, give hugs and lights out attempt number one. I finally go to sit down when one of the girls comes into the living room crying because her leg hurts and she can't go to sleep. I give her a drink and some Tylenol and send her back to bed – lights out attempt number two. Then I take out the trash, pick up the toys the kids left on the floor and wipe all of the toothpaste off the counter that they spilled. Now I go to sit down, and my husband pulls up in the driveway. I warm up his dinner and get him something to drink. I sit with him while he tells me all about how busy his day was, and then I clean up after him and get ready for bed.
10:38PM My husband hands me a handful of work clothes and says, “I need these for tomorrow. Can you wash them?” Sure. So I stay up waiting on his laundry to wash and dry so I can have it ready to go in the morning.
12AM When this is all done, I look at the clock and it is now after midnight. I am exhausted, and I go slip into bed. Just as I get comfy, Maizy starts screaming. I get up and rub her back for a minute. Once she is back asleep, I head back down the hall to my room. When I pass the twins’ room, I notice one of them is up. “Why are you up?” I ask. Maizy’s crying woke her. So, I lie down with Avery until she goes back to sleep, and then I slip out and get back to my room. The clock says 1:16am. It's not quite bonbons and soap operas, but it's the next best thing.
