A Day In The Life

The other day a lady from the Sioux Center News came to my house and did an interview.  She is doing an article about Em & Zara’s Kitchen in the business section of the paper.  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do the article, but to make a long story short, I decided that it would be kind of fun and agreed to the interview.  As the lady was pulling into the driveway, hundreds of thoughts were going through my mind.  Some rational, some not!  I was thinking:  What if she twists my words?  What if I offend someone by something I say?  What if people read the article and think, “Boy, they were searching for “news” this week.”  I think that I have made that exact comment myself.  The list goes on.  Silly, I know.  The last thought that popped into my head as I was opening the door was this…I wish she were here to do an article on, “A day in the life of a stay at home mom.”  Now that I know something about.  My business?  I don’t know the first thing about running a business.  Just ask Bryan in February when we are doing our taxes!  The interviewer asked me about my goals for Em & Zara’s, the future for Em & Zara’s, and where my passion for this business came from?  Passion?  Um, excuse me?  I love to cook and I really do love Em & Zara’s Kitchen, but my passion?  My passion is training 5 little souls.  I had a hard time not interjecting that into the interview.  I tried to answer her questions the best I could, and after she left I thanked God for the passion that he has given me.  I decided that since you won’t be seeing “A day in the life of a stay at home mom” in this weeks issue of the Sioux Center News, it might be fun to do it right here on my blog.   

  What do you think of when you think of a stay at home mom?  Is it bon-bons and soap operas?  Sparkly floors and four course meals?  Is is chaos, crying, runny noses, and diapers?  If this is what you have pictured than you have pictured it exactly right!  I know.  I might get in trouble with some of my fellow stay at home moms, but I am not ashamed to admit that an occasional bon-bon (Dove chocolate) and soap opera (HGTV) make it into my day.  I am not too proud to admit that I am not productive every minute of the day!  Every job has its “perks” this is just one of the many perks of staying at home!  If I was getting paid to eat bon-bons, I might feel guilty.  Just so you don’t think that I sit around eating Dove chocolates and watching HGTV all day…

6:45-7:00-  The house is quiet.  All I can hear is a soft buzz coming from the family room.  It is Caden checking in on important 11-year-old boy news.  Sport Center.  The rule here is that the TV goes off when trying to get ready for school.  He knows that and wakes up half-hour before the rest of us. 

7:15- The TV goes off.  The “big” girls are awaken from their deep, dark, sleeps.  They slowly make it from the downstairs, straight to the couch.  I hear the shower running, and running, and running downstairs.  I go down and tell Caden to turn off the shower and I pick out clothes for the girls.  Should have picked out clothes last night.  I didn’t. 

7:30-  The girls are dressed, but we can’t find sox.  I rummage through a basket of clean clothes.  Yes!  Four sox and two matches.  Bonus!  They all pull up to the island for their choice of cold cereal, toast, fruit, and/or yogurt.  They all eat.  Not because they are hungry, but because they know better than not to.  I brush and pull back hair while they eat.

7:45- I send them off to brush their teeth.  They all pack their backpacks.  Miah has library, so in go the books.  Cade has swimming so we look for the swim bag and a towel, suit, and goggles.  No trombone today.  So we think. 

8:00- I send them out the door, but not without hugs and kisses and the,  “Have a good day, make good choices, and be a good leader.” line.  Everyday it’s the same.  I only give Bryan hugs and kisses.  They all pile into the Red Rocket.  The Red Rocket is just a term of endearment for Bryan’s very-old-powerless-steering-nothing-like-a-rocket work car.  They all love that car and are not embarrassed to ride in it.  I love that! 

8:15-  Sigh.  The house is quiet.  Not for long.  I peek into the little girls’ bedroom and see an irresistible smile peeking over the crib rail.  I quietly retrieve her, careful not to wake Romee.  She still has a good hour left in her.  We settle into the rocking chair.  The phone rings.  “CHRISTIANSC” flashes across the caller ID screen.  “Mom, I forgot my trombone.”  No band, but he has a lesson.  Grrr…I am going to have to get dressed.   

8:30- Romee is stirring.  We go in and wake her, so we can have the trombone to school by 9:15.  We slowly snuggle her awake.  She needs time! 

8:45-  We all quickly get dresses.  Do we have time to eat breakfast?  Better wait. 

9:00-  The trombone has been delivered.  This time I got a “thanks so much, Mom”.  Not because he is so gracious, but because I threatened to give him a great big kiss on the cheek if I ever delivered something to school again without a “thank-you”.  Last week it was the swimsuit.    

9:15-  LIFE cereal for the girls and an English muffin for mom.  Milk is gone, better put that on my list. 

9:30- Pinkalicious, Usborne Toddler Treasury, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Little Critter are read over, and over, and over.  Time to rotate these downstairs. 

10:00-  Breakfast dishes adorn the countertop from both the first and second shift.  I load the dishwasher and vacuum under the bar stools.  Franklin (he is our very reliable babysitter) entertains while I also throw in load of wash and fold another.  I still have 5 minutes before Franklin is over.  I check my email. 

11:00- The chill is out of the air.  We can go for a walk.  What am I going to do in December?  Oh yeah, the Dordt Rec Center is a mom’s best friend on cold, blustery, mornings.  We can’t walk past the park without stopping to play for just a few minutes.  We also spot a combine harvesting beans.  We watch in amazement as the huge machine swallows bushels of beans in seconds.  Watching a farmer bring in a harvest is really a beautiful thing!     

12:00-  Daddy is home!  Yeah, adult conversation.  Let’s see, what should we have?  Chicken nuggets and peaches and cottage cheese?  Gourmet, I know.  But, it sounds good to everyone.   

1:00-  I am contemplating a trip to the grocery store.  We are out of milk and string cheese.  They are staples at the Bleeker house.  I also need a few things for supper.  We get to the store and both car-carts are occupied.  Amirah is mad.  Not a good start.  She refuses to ride in the cart.  I am trying to decide if I should just get the milk and cheese or everything on my list.  I made a bad choice.  I can not wait to get her out of the store. 

2:00-  Nap time!  I lay her in the crib.  After she calls me into the bedroom for the third time, I pick her up and rock her to sleep. 

2:30- Dinner dishes adorn the countertop.  I am seeing a pattern here.  I quickly get them in the dishwasher.  Romee and I get out her preschool stuff.  Today is our last day in the creation material.  We play in shaving cream and have a snack.  She gets busy playing with Playmobile and I throw in one more load of laundry.  I start the Chicken Fettuccine in the crock-pot and then go out the garage and finish sanding a “treasure” that I am working on. 

3:30-  The big kids come strolling down the street from school.  We page through papers, notes from teachers, and new library books.  They begin rummaging through the cupboards asking “What do you have for snacks?”  I remind them that we have piano and gymnastics today and ask if they have any homework.  I go in and turn off Amirah’s sound machine.  Ten minutes later she is awake and yelling, “I peed in my bed.” .  Dogs!  Should have put on a pull-up.  More laundry.  

4:00-  Snacks are consumed, a run-through of the piano lesson is completed, and the leotard is on.  All the Bleeker girls head out the door.  Cade is practicing trombone as we leave the house. 

5:00- gymnastics….check

5:30- Piano…check.

6:00- Fettuccine is almost done.  Add the last ingredients.  Set the table and eat.  My favorite part of the whole day!  Sigh.  We are all together for the first time today.  Devotions, prayer, and clean-up.  

7:00-  Everyone heads out the door to play for just awhile. 

7:30-  Baths, showers, reading, practicing memory work, and bed time snack.  

8:30-  Devotions with all 5 kids…make that 4.  Amirah is being a pain and I have to take her upstairs.

9:00- Cade, Bryan, and I watch the end of “Chopped” while the little girls play. 

9:30- Cade gets shooed downstairs to bed.  He begs one of us to go back down and tuck him in.  I’m the sucker tonight. 

9:45- Amirah and Romee are tucked in.

10:00- Bryan showers and joins me in the family room for a little mindless TV, and some very stimulating conversation!  Okay, this might be my favorite time of the day. 

11:00-  All 7 of us are in bed, and the house is quiet again.  All you can hear is the buzz of noise machines and Pugslee’s claws clicking on the hardwood floors.  I wish she would find a place to lay and stay! 

3:00a.m.-  The start of a new day!  Romee is awake and is complaining of a sore throat.  Bring it on!!!!!!!!!!!!!