6:15AM Maeve, my 3-year-old, comes and climbs in my bed. Her sisters wake her up when they get up (way too early) for school. We have a few snuggles and I check my phone and read my scriptures in between her coming in and out of my room.
7:10AM Allarie, my 6-year-old, comes in my room, and I fix her hair before she finishes getting ready for school. I’m usually still in bed when she and Layora, who’s 9, gather their things for school. I’m a night owl, so getting up before 7am isn’t really my thing. Luckily my girls know how to get things done and get ready on their own.
7:25AM My older two head out to walk to school with the neighbors. I grab my planner and look at my to-do list for today. I have a childbirth class starting tonight, so I need to finish preparing and putting all my materials together. I’m not on call for any births.
8:17AM I have breakfast and my 3-year-old joins me. She’s my little hobbit; she likes to have a second breakfast with me after eating with her sisters earlier in the morning.
9AM I get an idea for a new shirt and suddenly I’m making up a tester even though I probably shouldn’t add more things to my to-do list. Balance has never been my strong suit. My 3-year-old old plays with puzzles while I draft and sew, but that quickly escalates into destroying my room. I’ll have to deal with that later because … priorities.
10:43AM I hop into the shower and am mentally keeping track of what else I need to do. Update my website. Order my daughters’ yearbook. What am I making for dinner? I wonder what my 3-year-old is up to.
11AM Turns out Maeve decided to help herself to some pretzels, since I forgot to lock the pantry. Apparently she also ate them in the living room. On the couch. And in the hallway. I will probably find pretzel pieces in random places for the next few weeks.
12:05PM After helping Maeve vacuum up the last of the crumbs off the couch, we head to the kitchen and have some lunch before I put her down for a nap. She isn’t taking naps much anymore, but I think we’ll try it today even though that usually means she’ll keep her sisters up late. I have to prepare for class tonight, so naptime it is.
1:30PM Well, I see the fabric on the shelf that would be perfect for the shirt I wanted to make. No. Time. Must. Resist.
2:59PM My two older kids will be home any minute from school … and I’m feverishly sewing the last bits of the top I decided to make. I convinced myself if I didn’t sew something I’d have nothing to wear tonight.
4:35PM It’s time to get dinner started already? Didn’t we just have lunch?
6PM The girls’ dad stays with them while I head out to class. Lots of plugs and props to bring. I hope I didn’t forget anything.
6:30PM I meet my students at Dr. Lomonaco’s chiropractic office in Highland Village and we make our introductions. Getting my laptop hooked up to display videos and class content is no easy feat but I make it happen. I’m looking forward to this class — talking about birth is right up my alley.
9:05PM I make it back home after class and see the house. Oy vey. So much to catch up on. I’ve got another order that just came in so I’ll need to work that into my day tomorrow, but right now I need some me time. I’ve been on a big self-care journey ever since a few years ago when stress forced me to slow down and take better care of myself. The girls are already in bed, so I pick a cheesy flick from Amazon that I’ve been meaning to watch and alternate between chocolate and cutting out a sweater for myself while watching. I think I have a multitasking problem.
11:15PM Time for bed. Mmm. Just as I’m about to fall asleep, I hear my 3-year-old crying and heading to my room. I swear, every time I’m about to sleep she somehow senses it and wakes up.
11:40PM I’ve tucked my daughter in and talked her into going back to sleep by telling her that Bunny needs someone to tell her it’s time to sleep and make her stay tucked in for bed. The opportunity to tell someone what to do is too tempting and Maeve falls right into my trap. It isn’t a foolproof gimmick, but the bedtime gods are smiling on me tonight because it works. She closes her eyes as I leave the room and I crawl back into bed. My mind is still running with all the things I need to do tomorrow, but I try out some meditation techniques from the Headspace app on my phone and soon I feel myself drifting off as I say a silent prayer of gratitude to be a mother to these three little girls while doing what I love. Motherhood is one wild ride.
