Saturday, November 19, 2011

Burning Both Ends

It's no secret that this symester, our lives have been hectic.  For those unfamiliar, we now have four schools in four different directions that our children go off to in the morning.  This is our typical Monday thru Friday routine.

5:50 a.m.  Get up.
6:00 a.m.  Make sure all but the oldest and youngest children have been roused.
6-6:30 Make 8 lunches and one snack. Husband departs with oldest daughter to drop her off at train.
6:30-7 Make ten breakfasts, change two diapers, get youngest three and self dressed.
7-7:30 Convince all children to eat, finish getting dressed, brush teeth, comb hair, find coats, be shod and get in the car with backpacks and lunch bags.  Wake oldest son to come down and feed baby and watch youngest three.  Husband returns to get ready for work.
7:30-8:00 Take middle five to school and return.
8:25 Walk youngest son to foot of driveway to wait for bus.
Housework/patrol house/laundry if I'm being virtuous.
Oldest son is dropped off at the bus at 10:45 so he has time to go to the library before his 3:30 classes and take care of any paperwork at school.  He will have classes until 8:30pm and have to catch the 9:05 bus back. 
Run any out in the world errands.
Youngest son must be picked up at the foot of the driveway at 11:35 am
Lunch, paperwork, any slumming done during the day, plus storytime and writing.
Load car at 2:20 with youngest three to pick up at school and then drive to the metro to pick up oldest girl to then go back home.
Homework. Snack. Solo What did you do today reports and complaint office.  Mom I need....list.
6:00 Dinner for all that are home.
7:00-8:45 Baths, dishes, teeth, stories, prayers, clean up .
Meanwhile more homework/bedtime.
Husband leaves work to pick up oldest son from the station, getting both of them back to our house by 10:20.  
Second dinner for oldest son and husband. 
Dishes/spot conversations about what's going on, what happened and what will go on tomorrow.
12 pm. Baby wakes up for evening diaper change and bottle and to be rocked back to sleep.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

This  is neither a cry for help nor a complaint, it is merely fact.  Writing it out explained to me (because my brain is too sluggish to figure it out on my own), why when I got up and saw this quote, I thought....Oy.

Quote of the day by Bishop Fulton Sheen: Burning the candle at both ends for God’s sake may be foolishness to the world, but it is a profitable Christian exercise-for so much better the light. Only one thing in life matters. Being found worthy of the Light of the World in the hour of His visitation. We need have no undue fear for our health if we work hard for the kingdom of God; God will take care of our health if we take care of His cause. In any case it is better to burn out than to rust out.

Not rusty.  Am hoping for a nap soon. 

3 comments:

Amy Mullis said...

I haven't checked in on you in a while. So glad to see you're keeping up the good work! You're an example for all of us--the good kind of example, I mean!

Therese said...

I love that quote. I think I am going to make it into a poster.

Linda Fox said...

It can be wearing on you, though. May I suggest books on tape, or some of the Catholic Lighthouse CDs? It can make all that time in the car more interesting, and reduce your tension.

Course, that might drown out the sounds of the kiddles, which has mixed effects.

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