Just Another Day in the Life?

Chel Owens

I’ve been swamped lately. More than usual, I’m afraid.

I …may have taken a bit (a lot) onto my plate -a plate that was a bit (a lot) full to begin with. I believe I did so because I was bored, and/or may have finally had a good night’s sleep.

Besides this lovely blog that I love writing upon and the lovely people whose blog posts I actually do read, I’ve also been attending school. Of sorts. It’s called Pathways, and is like preschool for adults. This quarter (?) is on math (or, maths, for Brits) and has a teensy bit (a lot) of busy work each week.

Add a few life events like almost-everyone’s birthdays, a birthday party, and a baptism this Saturday.

Then sprinkle in a paid job I was doing but (perhaps fortunately) am not any longer.

Plus the children’s school is winding down.

Plus the ever-present duties of house and home (and now yard).

Plus caring for an at-home dice business that I don’t think I’ve ever talked about.

And, just for kicks, throw in a planned visit from our relative who has 8 children….

Yeah.

I’m not actually the Supermom sort. I’m not the Superanything sort; really, I’d settle on an edible chocolate ribbon for Best Example of a Flawed Human Being.

But I’m toast. Overwhelmed. Exhausted. Even a bit ill.

I can’t help but look around at other people and wonder how they do it, especially those who work as full time teachers at my kids’ school and have children of their own. I asked one of their Vice Principals that question in jest. She laughed and said her kids tease her for running their house like her classroom.

-But that may be the answer I seek.

So, for reals, how do you run your household? Do you schedule the hours? Minutes? Especially when you have a job and/or children, was it all set up? Outlined? Assigned?

I really do want to know.

andrew-neel-117763-unsplash

—————-

I sort of wrote things this week, and here they are:
Wednesday, May 8: Questioned the legitimacy of personality tests and their appeal in “Are We Our Personality Types?”

Thursday, May 9: “The Cure for Depression: Never Give Up, Never Surrender,” the final suggestion in a series originally posted over at The Bipolar Writer Mental Health Blog.

Friday, May 10: Winner of the Weekly Terribly Poetry Contest. Congratulations to Michael Fishman!

And posted “Should You Have Kids If You Have a Mental Illness?” over at The Bipolar Writer Collaborative Mental Health Blog (now say it ten times fast).

Saturday, May 11: Announced the 25th Weekly Terrible Poetry Contest. The theme is an elegy to your most commonly misplaced household item. PLEASE ENTER!

Sunday, May 12: “Gramma Dear,” a poem about my grandmother, in response to Carrot Ranch‘s prompt.

Monday, May 13: An inspirational quote by Mel Robbins.

Tuesday, May 14: Nothing.

Wednesday, May 15: Halfwayish through the month!

I also posted a bit at my motherhood site. I’m pretty sure I need to stop trying to keep that one afloat and have downgraded to a free plan again.
Anyway; I wrote “Take Time for You. Ish” and “Happy Mother’s Day?”

 

Photo Credit:
Andrew Neel

66 thoughts on “Just Another Day in the Life?”

  1. I hope you realise that ‘well run’ and ‘our household’ don’t often sit well together. It just feels like grassland firefighting. Running around after randomly appearing mini disasters. I think you did great to get through that workload.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Gary. I know you write about Capt Chaos stealing undies and terrible school days, but I get the idea you’ve a good handle on running it all.

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  6. Juggling home, kids, work, school, social life is hard and I have no answers. My teens finish mid-June for over two months and I have no idea how I will maintain any shred of sanity over this time. We just have to do the best we can with whatever resources are available.
    Take care x

    Liked by 1 person

    1. The last few summers I’ve written up daily schedules for them (jobs, educational activities). I have lofty goals of family outings and special treats. Sometime into the summer it usually falls apart, but I tried….

      Liked by 1 person

  9. That sounds like so much! Even if you don’t feel like a Superanything, I still think it’s impressive that you’re juggling it all.

    No clue about juggling it all. I’m not a mom, so I don’t even know what’ll happen if children enter the picture.

    I hope the time with the relatives goes well and that the birthdays are fun!

    (Also bookmarked the dice store!)

    Liked by 1 person

  10. I thought you must be busy and hoping not sick! You DO have a lot on your plate. I had to quit lots of things when I went to work. Kids are more important than other stuff. But jobs are important to feed the kids. Oy. It’s difficult.

    Liked by 1 person

  12. All I can offer is “Bloody Hell – you’re busy!” I know it’s no help, but I’ve discovered with creaky joints, chronic heart disease, and a low tolerance rate, that most of the stuff I used to worry about didn’t actually matter. The secret for me lies in not turning everything I love doing into a job!

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  13. Um, let’s not talk about me! I’ve wasted this entire week. I’ve just been super tired. When I do hard stuff like climb mountains, my body crashes with adrenal fatigue and I have to recover. It kinda sucks. I love the dice ! But as for you, I bet you’re just tired and you’ll be motoring along when you get rested again.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I had to rescue your comment from Spam; not sure why. 🙂

      I can relate the crashing; I did that today. Thanks for the support and comments! I hope that you’re right.

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      1. But we moms rarely to get to truly rest. Unless you have your children better trained that I do, haha! I’m still tired, btw. But it has gotten SUPER hot and humid here and that just sucks the life out of me. What kind of weather do you have?

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Are children EVER trained?

          The weather here gets very hot in the summer, but is never very humid. It’s dry, sometimes too dry.
          I’ve been to Texas (Dallas/Fort Worth) in August. I think I prefer our dryness. 🙂

          Liked by 1 person

  14. I’m sorry you’re also feeling a bit ill in addition to all the busyness 😦 Outside of work, I have one task that takes up a lot of my time and I think the key is to just be OK with it all by reminding yourself that nothing – outside of your health and your family – is really that important. It’s life and it is what it is. Bruce is right. As for a housecleaning tip, you’d be very surprised how quickly you can get used to dusty shelves and papers and stuff laying around. It’s not messy, it’s just lived in. And if your neighbors don’t like your lawn then they can come over and mow it. Clay Golem is a little scary but Arachnid Warrior is cool.

    Liked by 1 person

  15. I’m in the same boat you are. Life’s been nuts, cashews and pecans and macadamias, oh my. I tend to put blinders on and just try to persevere. The saint usually has to tap me on the shoulder to remind me I’m not a Droid and Mr. Swinebottom gives me cheers and growls at people behind my office door at work. You can borrow him if you’d like.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. I’m exhausted and I’m an empty nester. Where did I find the energy to do it all when the brood was home? Here’s to those (like you) who are still mucking about in the thick of it. Hint: dust and doing windows are last list items.

    Liked by 1 person

  18. You do sound rather swamped. And then you ‘sorta’ wrote a whole long list of things! You’ve gotta say ‘no’ sometimes, Chelsea, and take a break.

    Liked by 1 person

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