Three

I remember when my day was full just taking care of myself. I read over at Jen's blog the other day how she envisioned maternity leave being this awesome break that involved plenty of time to blog, etc. I remember having the same thought - I mean, pesky job out of the way, I should be laden with time, right? I came to the same realization that she did, that you can't figure out where the time goes.

Today, I broke down the numbers. And my number kept coming back to three. Things I do all day:

In the morning, I have to:

Get three people dressed
Make three breakfasts, plus dog
Pour two juices and a milk
Tend to three potty/diaper needs
Brush three heads of hair
Brush 2.5 sets of teeth
Do three sets of dishes
Bathe myself

Two days a week, that all has to happen before 8:40am when boys only get up around 8 these days. (not complaining about that part!)

You can probably imagine how the power of three progresses from there, there's just a few additions to that list:

Three people buckled into the car
Three people into the store/school/house
Three noses to suck/wipe/tend
60 finger/toenails to keep tidy
Three heads of hair to cut (not mine, in this case)
6 ears to keep neat and clean
Three coats/hats to put on and take off
Two beds and a crib to make

Of course, there is also making dinner, menus, grocery lists, shopping, appointments, playdates to properly socialize children, and entertainment. This might be easier if one's two year old would watch TV for more than 3 minutes at a time.

Sometimes I stop and look in a mirror and I'm horrified. I have a perma-ponytail because Pigpen is in a grabby-pully stage with hair and earrings. There is always some sort of baby crust on my shirt of the spit up/babyfood/drool variety. If I put make up on, it falls off and never gets reapplied. Chapstick is a luxury item, I usually use either the nipple cream that's been in my purse since the hospital or the Aquaphor that's on the boys' counter for their rough crusty spots. I am such a shlep.

So, that's enough pathetic whining for today. I just wanted to actually assess where my day goes. There you have it.