Please pass the vinegar. (And while you’re at it, can you turn on Dateline?)

 I read a mommy blog recently where the writer listed everything she did in a day to reassure herself of what she accomplished. “Hmmmmm”, I thought. “I should try that.” I, too, suffer from the phenomenon of constantly wondering, “where did the time go?” and “what did I get done today?”

So… here it is, an account that might be titled “A Day in the life of a 3/4-time SAHM who tries to be crunchy, but ends up at Sonic more often than she’d like to admit.”

5:30am Heard Ruby crying. Felt extremely thankful for a hubby who went to lay with her despite working a double yesterday and not getting home till after midnight. What a keeper.
dozed until... 
6:30am Matt came back to our room with both girls in tow and everyone climbed into our bed.  I turned on Dora for Grace and nursed Ruby while Matt snored. This morning feeding is the last to go before Ruby is officially weaned and I’m cherishing it.
a little more dozing until…
7:30am I took the girls out of our room to let Matt sleep. Fixed honey nut cheerios for their (1st ) breakfast, brewed coffee and emptied the dishwasher and reloaded with last night’s dishes. Wiped kitchen down with vinegar (my new cleaning obsession). Stumbled around the kitchen sleepily cleaning and serving seconds (breakfast #2).
8:15am Woke Matt up to spend time with the kiddos before work. Fixed his coffee and breakfast (#3). Oatmeal, Greek yogurt, slivered almonds, dried cranberries, sliced bananas. Ate ½ a banana for my breakfast. Spilled my entire cup of coffee on the floor I had just mopped yesterday. FML. Bored Matt with details on the wonderful attributes of vinegar as I cleaned it up.
9:00am Put the soundtrack from Beauty and the Beast on to distract Grace from asking to watch tv. Thought about how I really wished I could watch last night’s Dateline queued up on my DVR.
9:05am Threw both kids in the tub and scrubbed them. Lectured Grace on the importance of washing all her body, even her face, then argued with her until she actually washed it.
9:30am Kissed Matt goodbye, pulled kids out of the bath, got them dressed, attempted to finish cleaning the kitchen (with vinegar) with Ruby on my hip. 9:45am Chatted on the phone with my pregnant friend in Canada. Gave her a lecture on cloth diapering (since I no longer CD, the irony is NOT lost), while still holding Ruby on my hip, half-heartedly looking for my Ergo and wiping down the kitchen table and chairs. Discovered I had left a load of wash in the washer overnight, threw a cup of (what else) vinegar in and re-rinsed them.  Clued my friend in to the magical powers of vinegar. Realized a 12 step program might be my only hope for putting down the vinegar and moving on with my life. Re-started the B&B soundtrack so Grace could hear “the girl part.”
10:45am Hung up the phone. Let the girls have some Scooby Snacks - a treat Grace talked me into in a moment of weakness in the midst of an insane grocery shop. Browsed Facebook, Pinterest and blogged, while intermittently wiping noses, fixing toys, refereeing arguments, kissing tears, cleaning messes and still thinking about last night’s episode of Dateline.
11:45am Switched the laundry from the washer to the dryer. Put a load of bedding in with free and clear detergent and vinegar. Picked up the recycling that Ruby had strewn across the house. Started the dishwasher and washed the dishes in the sink. Ate a cliff bar and finished off the coffee for “brunch.” Fixed the girls a lunch of last night’s salad, black beans and a little tuna fish with Italian dressing.  Put the rest of the food in a bowl for later, daydreaming about eating it while watching Dateline during a quiet moment. Was loudly reminded by Grace that she wanted the PINK plate, because pink is her favorite color.  Tried not to be annoyed when Ruby dumped her entire lunch out onto the (no longer clean anyway) floor.
12:15pm Became convinced no one would ever read this blog, because even writing it was boring. 7 hours till bedtime…
12:30pm Picked up the toys in the bathtub. Wiped down the bathroom counters (for the 500th time today) Started to clean the girls’ room up (with their “help”). Threw the clean laundry from the dryer onto the growing pile of, “clothes to be folded while watching Dateline.”
12:40pm Stopped the dog from attacking the neighbor kid and felt thankful when both dogs came inside and cleaned up/ate Ruby’s lunch that she had thrown on the floor.
12:45pm Snuggled with the girls in their bed, reading books and singing songs. <3
1:45pm Gave up on a nap and let the girls get up. Sorted laundry while Grace read books to Ruby. Lunch (without Dateline) while the girls played.
2:00pm Transferred laundry to the dryer and threw another load of bedding in. Became slightly alarmed about the Dateline pile and wondered if/when it would get completed. Played referee between the kids and the dogs. Swept living room and put toys in toy box. Stopped Ruby from eating dog food.
2:45pm Fixed fruit salad and potato chips for snack. Rescued Grace from a tumble and kissed her tears away. Emptied dishwasher. Marveled at how clean using vinegar in the prewash had made my dishes. Became suspicious of a quiet house and discovered both kids in the bathtub with the lights off and the curtain shut. Herded them out of the bathroom no questions asked. Cleaned the kitchen (again).
3:30 Set the girls up with a very basic art project at their table. Decided against cleaning the (now filthy) floors. Wondered about the hurricane-like state of my house, despite what seemed like constant wiping, cleaning, sweeping and picking up.
3:45 More refereeing, snuggling, reading, singing and general silliness. Felt proud of myself for taking a moment to enjoy and remember that these truly are the best days of my life.
4:30pm Loaded kids in the car for a quick errand. Ruby finally fell asleep. Once home, found a movie for Grace to watch while Ruby napped. Tried to run through the house and re-clean everything in a flash.
5:30 Straightening abruptly ended with a cranky Ruby waking up screaming. More baby snuggles. Decided on a quick dinner of bacon and apple grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup.
6:00pm 1 hour countdown to bedtime. Mad dash to get dinner made and eaten, clean sheets on the beds, baths finished and pj’s on.
7:00pm Books, songs, kisses, hugs, cuddles and sleep.
8:00pm Wine, laundry, Dateline. And one more sweep through the kitchen with the vinegar, of course. :-)

On deck for tomorrow: lather, rinse and repeat, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.