It is that time of year where I meet myself coming and going. I am stressed to the max and I complain because there isn't enough time in the day. I cringe every Sunday as I look at the next week's schedule and wonder how I am going to make it work.
Winters are easy for us. Tim gets off work at 4:30p and by the time I get home he has already started supper, the boys are doing their homework and our night is already rolling. It is the Spring - Fall where is basically all lies on me, because Tim is in the fields. I am one person juggling 3 boys, work, school, dinner, trip planning, baseball, 4H, etc. This isn't easy and I rely A LOT on my calendar, prayers to the good lord above, and my in-laws just to get through another week.
Currently my situation goes a little like this. Tim is up at 5am to leave the house for work and Oliver isn't too far behind, just because he wants to see his dad before he leaves for work. I am not a morning person and 5 is just too early for me, considering I am always the last to bed. Tim will get Oliver fed and settled on the couch with cartoons before he leaves for work. I will get out of bed at 7a, pack lunches, double check the baseball bags, put all the water bottles, ice packs, sandwiches for supper, and other snacks in our "ballpark snack bag" before I start getting ready for work. Oliver and Carter will dress themselves and be ready to head out the door when I tell them. I let Evan sleep until the very last minute before I throw clothes and shoes on the little tornado, refill his sippy, grab his breakfast and out the door we go. Once they are dropped off at the sitters I hightail it to work, because depending on the argument I had to have with the two oldest or it never fails Evan #2's as we are ready to leave the house, there is a possibility I am running about 5 minutes behind. The ride to work is my "talk to Tim time". We hardly see each other in the evening and when I do see him there are a million things we are already talking about and forget to tell him other things (I haven't even brought up next year's Vasquez Vacation Plans) so when he is spraying I will call him on my way to work. We will chat for about 25 minutes, thank goodness for hands free in both my car and his spray rig. If I can't talk to him I always find myself driving to work in silence, it is rare in my house and really enjoyable when I drive to work. Before walking into the office I breath in one more last bit if silence before I walk into the demands of an attorney, not saying that as a bad thing, and the phone, ugh-the phone. There are days that I can only grocery shop on my lunch hour, which forces me to know the local Schnucks like the back of my hand and thank my bosses for giving me an hour lunch. Other days I will run to the local stores for house necessities and some days I do online work like registering the boys for school, sports or just answering emails.
Once I am off work, at 5p, I am rushing to the sitters, as I get a 25 minute venting session in with my mom. Once I get to the boys I start the next part of my daily adventures. Currently I am getting the boys from the sitter to rush back to town for a 6pm baseball/t-ball game, getting there with 5 monutes to spare. This is 4 of the 5 week nights. At this point there is no supper making, homework, or relaxing. We are eating lunch meat or peanut butter sandwiches with grapes, oranges and other snacks. Our drinks are the water or juice I packed that morning, which I kept cold in my work fridge. We are at the diamonds from 6p-8:30p, always with a 30 minute drive home. Once we are home it is shower time and then straight to bed for the boys. I stay up to re-pack for the next day, do laundry, pick up the house, and workout. Somewhere in this time Tim will come home, maybe grab a bite to eat, shower and head to bed. I am normally crawling in bed an hour or so after Tim.
There are times I have to call my in-laws to get the boys when I have to be two places at once. There are even rare times my mom will make the hour drive to help me out. On the nights we aren't at the ball field we get home and I am able to make a healthy dinner and the boys and I are able to enjoy the evening playing outside. When it rains we get to see Tim... he will get the boys from the sitter, he will meet me at whatever ballpark necessary, if the games are still on, and he will help in the balancing act called parenting.
I know the reason there isn't enough time in the day is because I do work a full time job. However, our house will always be a dual income home. I also know that this time shall pass and there will come a time when I miss being a baseball mom, I will miss the chaos I call life. There are times I need a break, I want to cry, scream or run away but I wouldn't trade this time with my boys for the world.
How do you balance everything?
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