Wait, wasn't I supposed to have more free time once I got a kid in school?

For some reason, I was under the impression that I'd have a ton of "free time" once I had at least one kid in Kindergarten.  Esp. if I signed him up for full-time Kindergarten.  I dreamed of afternoons in the park, good books enjoyed with a cup of tea while the little ones took naps, etc.  Hmmm...

Today for example, I got up, got myself and three kids dressed, breakfast in all of them (banana muffins, I'd thoughtfully made yesterday afternoon in my "free time"), put Carter's lunch in his bag (packed the day before, also in my "free time".  Collected all the laundry, threw in the first of many loads, gathered the trash, because it all needed to get out to the curb. Then it started.

I didn't have time for breakfast myself, so I ate the other 1/2 of Henri's Nutrigrain bar.  Then when I put the lunch in Carter's backpack, I realized I'd forgotten to check his folder.  Yep, you guessed it.  Fundraising packets were due back to day and there was homework!  (Wait, this is Kindergarten, right?)  Then we race into the car, I don't have time to walk Carter to his classroom as the school wants me to, so I do regular drop off because I have only 3 minutes after traffic to get from his school to our pediatrician's office. I assume he made it alright because the school has not called looking for him.

Get to the pediatrician's office.  Go to upstairs office where doctor was last time.  I'm now 5 minutes late after struggling to open the double stroller.  Nope, of course, she's downstairs today!  Get in there.  Good news is Valerie's yeast infection is now gone from her bum, but she still has a diaper rash and of course her diaper is sopping wet when the doctor checks it.  And that wierd bump on her head?  Probably part of baby heads being wierd shaped to get out into the world, call if it gets bigger, otherwise we'll just watch it. Awesome.  Dr. tells me I need diaper rash cream with 40% zinc oxide and to let her "air out" periodically for up to an hour at a time.  So we head to the drugstore.

I get kids out of the car, into double stroller, we get the diaper cream, deoderant (which I've been out of for 2 days now), and boogie wipes (because, did I forget to mention?  Henri woke up with a coupy cough and a runny nose.  Then we walk over to the grocery store to get flour (I have 1/2 cup on hand), sugar (I have maybe 1/3 cup) and vanilla (out).  The clerk says, "wow, you must be busy!" then I answer, "yes, especially when the other one isn't at school."  Then she saw what I was buying and said, "hm... you think you have time to bake?"

I run back to the car, we drop off our stuff, stay in stroller and walk the block to the library to pick up my books I've put on hold (my timesaver!  Just go online and they find the books for you!) of course the computers for self-checkout are down, so I wait for the one librarian available behind someone who is checking out 25 books for the senior center and chatting up said librarian.  We walk back to the car, and miracle of miracles make it 4 minutes early to gym class, so I change Henri's diaper.  We do gym class, Henri is his usual super-star self, showing up the 2 & 3 year olds in his class, our last obstacle course is done with me nursing Valerie in the front-pack while leading Henri on monkey bars.

We get home and it's already lunch time!  Henri and I eat, Valerie eats, clean up the kitchen, put all the chairs up and start the robovacuum, put Henri to nap and start to change Valerie when I realize she's happy and full and Henri's taken care of, let's let her air out, shall we?  I put her in the pack n play bassinette serving as the change table and let her "air out" on a pad while I fold the laundry from the dryer from last night, flip the laundry I started this morning from the washer to the dryer and put in the next load, then clean up the playroom so I can vacuum that since Henri's been wearing his boots in and out through the backdoor.

Go to check on Valerie.  Poop is everywhere.  All over the pad, all over the bassinette sheet.  Change bassinette sheet, give Valerie a quick bath in the sink, remake bassinette while she lays naked in the crib on a pad. Take all that down to laundry room.  Check on Valerie.  You guessed it!  Poop everywhere now in the crib! Clean her off, move her back over to bassinette, on a pad and change the crib sheets.  Give up on "air out" time and slather the 40% Zinc Oxide diaper stuff on her.  Nurser her while waiting for bee exterminators as she passes out and update the blog with the robot vacuum swirling in it's crazy path around me.

Oh, yes!  Bees!  So the exterminators came out 2 weeks ago after our best efforts at trying to convince the bees (yellow jackets) they really could not live with us in harmony right next to our front door.  $175 and 10 minutes later, they said if they weren't gone by the next week to call back.  Still here, they were supposed to come while I was out to spray again.  NOW there's another entrance to the bee hive and the original bees are still going in and out, so I'm waiting for them to come back out to show them the other entrance.  They'd be here sometime between 12 and 2.  It's now 1:55.  At 3, I'll wake up kids, put them in double stroller and meet my neighbor to walk over to school to get Carter.  Oh, then rush back home to make clam chowder from scratch, go to curriculm night, come home and do bedtime, which has gotten completely out of control with the stalling, before passing out myself.

Not to mention vacuuming the playroom and folding all the rest of the laundry somewhere in there.

Now where's my tea and good book, I think I have 2 minutes before I have to stand up again!