As I'm writing this, I am laughing. I honestly just sat down, or at least for any amount of significant time. I'm used to it. That's the sad part. I know all of my single moms can relate. Just thinking about my day exhausts me, but I just do it because I have no option.
Here is a typical weekday for me:
Wake up with a smile and pop out of bed! It's time for the day to start, sleepyhead! NOPE! Not remotely close! It's more like alarm goes off and my hand reaches out and slams the snooze button. Shit. Is it really 6:30 already? I swear I JUST went to bed. Roll over, and try to sleep for a whole 9 minutes, but not really because I know the damn thing will be going off again, so really, I'm just laying there awake with my eyes closed. Damn thing goes off again. Another slap to the snooze button. I'm surrounded by 3 cats and it's still dark out. Grumble, grumble, swear words, turn off the alarm, turn on the light. Loud sigh. Glasses on, stumble to the bathroom. Morning pee, splash face with water, put contacts in, brush teeth. Listen to baby monitor to see if "she" is awake yet. Nope. Good. Moving on to wardrobe. Stand in closet for 3-5 minutes in a daze, looking at all of my clothes over and over. Swear words. Pull whatever outfit isn't atrocious and won't make me look too fat out. Put on underwear. Pull clothes on. Moving onto beauty ritual. Depending if I have my hair straight or not...dunk head under tub faucet, or touch up curls with straightening iron. Sit on counter. Apply facial lotion, deodorant, and start to apply makeup. STOP. Listen to baby monitor to see if "she" is up. Nope. Good! Onward with an uninterrupted routine. Applying makeup. Apply necessary hair condiments. Almost done! Start operation jewelry. Put in matching earrings (always), and sometimes a necklace, bracelet, or rings. STOP. What was that? Listen to the monitor again. Oh no---it's waking up!
Onward to the meal routine. Now, this can happen at any point during my morning ritual, but I'm assuming she's slept through all that. Sometimes I have her breakfast ready before I am done, sometimes, she's up and demanding it. Haul ass to the kitchen. Grab sippy cup, vitamins, cereal bar, and half of a banana. Try to feed the damn fish and cats before she's up. Go into her room, where I'm usually greeted with a chipper "mornin' mommy!!!!" Adorable, yes. A little too much first thing in the morning, sometimes. Get her out of bed, send her to the potty. Put on her "undies" and then her clothes for the day. Socks and shoes. If I forget anything, she will certainly let me know. Feed her breakfast. Pack my lunch. I rarely eat breakfast this early, so I will either grab something to go, or just have some juice. Get her daycare bag ready. Make sure we have everything and head out the door and load into the car.
Drive to daycare. Kisses goodbye, and off to work! Flip off and swear at other drivers as I get over 4 lanes of traffic in less than a mile to get onto my exit. Blare the tunes and zone out for a bit. Suddenly, I'm at work. Go in, sit down, work. 8 hours later, pack it up, go to daycare, round up the kid. Then either go straight home, or try and run errands, usually the grocery store. Get home between 5:30-6:00 pm.
Start the dinner/bedtime routine. Get dinner started, dishes unloaded, a load of laundry in the washer, clean the cat boxes, pick up toys, and do whatever random chore that might need to be done. If I don't get it done before dinner, it's usually after the kiddo goes down. Feed the kid dinner, get the bath ready, bathe her, get her ready for bed and in her jammies. Phew! My dinner is either still in the oven, or not even ready yet. Now we play or watch TV. I haven't seen her all day, and I don't see her much between getting home and bedtime, but I'm exhausted by this point. Finally, 8:00 rolls around! Yippee! The end is in sight. But, someone else has other plans. 8:05, 8:09, 8:17...finally, ok, say goodnight to the kitties, and go to sleep!
Mommy time! This is when my personal chef and masseuse come over. HA! Nope time to eat, sit down, watch TV, make my lunch, do whatever didn't get done before baby bedtime, then make sure the house is semi-clean. Shit. How the hell is it 10:00 already? Time to shower and get ready for bed. Can't sleep, toss and turn, can't shut my brain off. And then....it starts all over again!
Does that make you tired? I'm tired even reliving it. And of course, this is a typical day. There's always those days where even 5 minutes of my routine is messed up, and my whole day is off.
Cheers to all the single moms out there. I feel your pain!
EXACTLY!!!!! hahaha well done! :)
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