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Just a Mom - the life of a divorced mommy
- Jan 13, 2009 at 11:37 PM
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- Comments (6) Total Views (93) Everyone can see this journal post.
It's 6:59 am. I'm tucked safely away in my soft, fit-for-a-princess bed. I'm surrounded by big warm blankets, larg fluffy pillows and completely oblivious to the alarm clock on my oak headboard that's about to scream at me. That scream will tear me out of a world where I'm not alone. I'm a woman. A woman who is adored by a strong, handsome husband. A woman who has the perfect balance of work, family and personal time. A world that lets me actually let out all the sides of me.
Alas- there's that dreadful scream that jolts me back to the real world. I'm a mom. Nothing more, nothing less. It's 7am. My hair gets thrown into a pony tail and it's time to start the coffee I affectionately refer to as my "go-go juice". I check on my oldest to make sure he heard his alarm 15 minutes ago, and he's already in the shower. I hollar to him after I hear the water shut off to find out what he wants for breakfast. I lay out his morning vitamin. As I stretch and yawn, my mind begins to race with all the things that must be crammed into the day. "Better start a list" I think to myself as I realize there isn't enough milk for the Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Corey wants. "Sorry, bud" I yell; right before I tell him he's getting toaster waffles.
7:20am - Corey's eating and I'm on my second cup of coffee. Finally getting the "sleepies" out of the corners of my eyes, we talk about what his day in school will hold for him and run down a quick check list to make sure he has everything. Phone, hat, gloves, house key, homework... "check, check, check,check, check, mom... I got it". Yet it always feels like we're forgetting something, even if we're not. At 7:40 Corey is headed down the stairs to walk the three blocks to school. Yes, in fact, he did forget something. So it's back up the stairs. He was forgetting one more hug and one more "I love you". He's off again to his 7th grade life. A proud mama watches lovingly out the window in disbelief that her tiny 7lb 6oz baby boy is only a month away from being 13 years old. And such a fine young man he's becoming.
7:45am - time to wake up Tatum and Connor. About that time 3 of my friends' kids knock on my door so they can catch a ride to school with us. The girls will have to watch tv in the living room until my kids decide to get their booties into gear and get dressed.
8:00am - Switch ou the washer and dryer loads, water the plants and put Corey's breakfast dishes in the already full dishwaswher. Yet another thing to add to the list. I'm down to my last detergent pack. With my hand on my forhead I'm wondering if there will be enough money for all the groceries. My eyes glance over to the counter where the vitamins are. Better get those laid out now before I forget. Another coffee refill and I have to see if the kids are anywhere close to ready. Connor's shirt is on backwards. Better fix that. Then tie his shoes, give him his vitamin, then he needs to brush his teeth to get rid of that dragon breath.
Off to Tatum's room to see what kind of mood the "fashion diva" is in today. I swear she's 9 going on 19. Again, she has "nothing to wear" all because the cami she wanted for under her sweater was just placed into the dryer. We compromise on an outfit for the day and Tate takes her vitamin and brushes her teeth. This leaves just a few minutes to play.
8:30am - "Coats on!" I yell. Connor's missing a glove and Tate can't find her hat. I go searching while reading down the spelling words for a last quick quiz. 8:35 - hat and glove are no longer missing and Tate only missed on word... it was just a "challenge word" for extra credit. Hopefully she'll remember how to spell that one during the test.
8:40 - The kids are just in time for breakfast. The girls like the school breakfast better... or so they say, I think they just like to hang out with their friends before class. Connor just goes with the flow. He's outnumbered; what's the use in fighting it?
I look at my freezing cold fingers on the steering wheel. I forgot my gloves this morning. Oh, well - I'm "just mom". The kids are warm and that's what matters. I need a manicure. Maybe I can give myself one after the kids go to bed if there's enough energy to do it.
8:55 - Quick shower, driy off, get dressed, choke down my three vitamins and fold the laundry still sitting in the basket by the recliner. Put the clean folded clothes in the kids' respective bins and listen to the Today Show from the bathroom as I put on my make up and do a quick fix of my hair.
At 9:30 I'm on my way out the door and I have to re-check my schedule. Am I going to be able to pick up the kids today or are they getting a ride from Mrs. Powers? Looks like they're getting aride. My break isn't at the right time today. I'm jealous. I want to be there. I want to be the first to hear about their day. Half way to work I realize I didn't eat breakfast. Oh well. I can hold off another 4 1/2 hours until I get a couple 99 cent tacos. The kids got their breakfast, that's what matters. I'm just mom, I'll be okay.
As I'm clocking in at 9:55, I wonder how Tat is doing on her spelling test, how Corey is doing on his fraction multiplication chapter and if Connor earned a "smiley" on his goal sheet in his first subject today.
12:30 - and my tummy is starting to grumble. A nice looking guy walks into the store. I greet him as I have every other customer who walked in beforfe him. By this time I feel like a broken record. I don't even think about it anymore. Wow, he has a gorgeous smile and there's no ring on his finger. Well, he's obviously shopping for a lady. Oh well, keep dreaming. Who's going to want me? I'm nobody special - I'm just a mom.
3:00 - Time for my tacos. My mind wanders yet again. Corey is probably on his way to Tate and Connor's school to meet them. How was his day? Is he warm enough? Did he talk to the cute girl in science class? Is the class bully leaving him alone today? Is he going to text me when he gets there to let me know he's okay? Probably not. he walks with a friend and it wouldn't be cool to text mommy. Any other girl would be cool, but I'm just mom.
3:45 - The kids are getting a ride home now and I've clocked back in fifteen minutes ago. My thoughts are now consumed with my kids and how their day went. At this point I'm going through the motions of work. Will the kids "remember" to do their chores? Are they working on their homework? Did they find a snack on the snack shelf in the pantry? What are they eating? Raisins? Pretzles? Cereal bars? Bananas?
5:00 - Time to clock out for the day. Off to Wal-Mart, coupons in an envelope at the bottome of my purse. I have to make a mad dash through the store with my little calculator in hand to make sure I'll have enough. Corey calls to remind me he needs deodorant for gym and Tatum needs me to get a tube of Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast tomorrow. She doesn't like what's on the school menu for tomorrow. I'll be returning something to the shelf because now I won't have enough to get it all. Saline solution for my contacts goes back this time. I can wear my glasses for a week until payday. I can go without. I'm just a mom.
My clock says 6:30 and I finally get up the staris to begin supper. Noticing that chores weren't done, I gently encouraged the kids to do them. Corey yells that the vacuum isn't working. Oh great. : ( Supper needs to be fast. Hamburgers will do.... well, they would have done if I'd taken the hamburger out of the freezer last night. The kids decide on breakfast for supper. Ug. I hate that. I turn into a short order cook. Nobody likes their eggs the same way. A couple of us like crispy bacon while the other two like "floppy" bacon. Three of us like grits while the other wants hash browns. Guess I'd better get the griddle going.
We finally get to sit down together around 7:30. We pray, eat and talk about our days. We all clean up the kitchen together, then it's bath time for Tater-bug and Con-man. I make them a deal. If they can all be ready for bed by 8:30; we'll play a game until it's time for bed. Corey runs to his room to get his pj's on; while the other two are 1/2 naked before they get to the bathroom doors, leaving their discarded clothing on the floor behind them. Finally, a few minutes of peace! Until Tate hollars out that there's no TP in her bathroom. I grab a new roll and pick clothes up from the floor on my way to deliver the "tooshie-tissue".
Better start an other load of laundry and fold what's in the dryer while i have a few minutes. As I sit down to fold, I take a deep breath. I shouldn't have sat down! All of a sudden I'm tired. Looking at the clock, guilt sets in. I talk to my mom every day. I tell her I love her every day. But today, I didn't call her. I've been too busy. It's nearly 8:30. She's in bed. She has to be at work at 5 in the morning so it's too late to call now. She's a friend and a confidant... she's far from just a mom.
I'm nearly finished sorting socks when Connor and Tate race to me as if they were in sync. They're just under the wire. It's 8:27 and it's time to make good on my promise. Corey shuts down his XBox 360 and removes the MP3 player earbuds from his head. Pictureka time! We're addicted to that game. We're competitive. We yell, we laugh, we play. In that 1/2 hour til bed time we only have time for one very close scoring game. Tatum won this time. Corey's ready for a re-match.
Everybody leaves the table to brush their teeth, I'm left here to clean up the game before getting my "night night loves". Time to start the dishwasher so it will be ready to unload and refill with tomorrow's dishes. The kitchen could use a good sweeping.... and mopping, but I'm out of the cleaner I mop with... that will be going on a list for the next trip. I'll spot clean with a dish rag for now.
9:45pm - I'm worn out. But I see towels on the floor in the bathroom and gosh that counter in there could be wiped off too. My friend Mike calls me to see how my day was, little does he know, I'm multitasking. The cat is getting fed, email is getting checked, and I'm going over the homework for tomorrow and putting towels and my own laundry away.
I'm as close to done with things as I can get with the amount of energy I have left. I can't do any more. I get off the phone, wash my face brush my teeth and go to bed. Crawling in with the last bit of energy I have, I got to thinking, I never gave myself that manicure tonight. Oh well, I'll survive. I'm just mom.
Comments:
I love this post!!
I loved reading this....it's so true! I thought when my girls grew up that I would be thru with all the school rush, homework, etc. LOL, no way, now the grandgirls are here a couple of nights a week. Wearing as it is physically sometimes ( especially the nights when I worked until late), amazing what wonderful, blessed memories of our own two daughters at that age. I don't regret helping out, no sence to pay babysitter for 90 min in th AM,, besides, this is all memories for my grandbabies when they grow up & have their own! Good luck to you Momma, hope you get to do your nails before long!! Love, hugs & prayers, Sheila
so true, I know this life... I have a 7th grader(boy) and 4th grader(girl) too... chit chat at me anytime!!! I am married but we have A LOT in common!
WOW you are busy bee! Great post
wow that's like me . we all know that the old saying is soooo true a mom's work is never done . i'm up extra early to double tripple check behind my three children . this week my daughter aniya 8 she's in the 3rd grade and their having their PSSA testing this week.so i'm making sure she's on time . i' think we should do a post about our day like you did very nice.
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(blows you a kiss) and a good one at that....speaking of nails, mine will wait because as you said so well, I'm just a mom. ;o)
- Bearsjen
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