A day in the life

10 a.m. Evan to the school admin building for a GATE test he missed during the year.

10:30 a.m. everyone to a park to meet Spencer's preschool class

11:30 a.m. home to dust the living room, unload and reload the dishwasher, get the boys' baseball uniforms into the washer, 27-fling-boogie the car, try to get through the massive pile of mail and random paper that has swallowed the counters in my kitchen. Remove unnecessary accessories from top of computer desk. Dust desk. Leave accessories all over desk.

12:10 p.m. discover that Shout does not work as advertised on the grass stains Garrett makes on baseball pants. Put clothes (stains and all) into dryer. Put baseball shirts into wash with other dark laundry. Get recycling sorted for pickup tomorrow. Call Garrett's friend's mom to find out if he can swim and is he allowed to go to the pool with us this afternoon. Yes. Yay.

1:30 p.m. Start rice in steamer for dinner. Gather swim stuff; kids change into suits and load stuff in car. Call Mom to find out if a sewing class offered locally is advertising the item she mentioned she wanted on recent visit. It is. Call sewing center to register for class. Panic after discovering said class is set for a Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. Decide to worry about child care later.

1:45 p.m. Leave to pick up Garrett's friend.

2:00 p.m. Arrive at pool with 4 little boys. Insist they all stay together as they go through the boys' locker room. Rush through to poolside to discover one of boys. Alone. Ummmm? Buddy system? Hel-LOoooo. Wait through lifeguard's hourly break which lasts approximately 5 minutes but seems like a lifetime. Sit in sun, cook, and watch children while trying to read Newsweek. Count heads obsessively. Wonder why it is always one of YOUR kids that is not visible. Thank your lucky stars it is one of your kids, not the extra. Shudder in horror at having to tell parents, "Sorry, I lost him." Count heads again. Move to shade because holy man it is hot out. Count heads again. Read trashy Newsweek article about trashy Princess Diana book coming out. Count heads again. Think about going to bookstore to buy trashy book the day it is released. Feel slightly ashamed, then shrug and decide to go with it and slough off the shame. Count heads again.

3:00 p.m. Get everyone rounded up and out of pool. Wait approximately an eternity while everyone puts on their shoes. Wonder how on earth it can take that long to put on shoes that don't lace up. Run into old friend from book group. Think, why do I always run into people I haven't seen in years when I am sunburned and my hair is crazy and .... oh forget it. Who cares anyway? Get kids into van. Argue with kid about sitiing in front seat. No. I said no. Because it is a 3 minute drive home and you have already argued with me for at least that long. Argh. Drive home. Hit a red at the ONE stoplight between pool and home; sit and wait, thinking, I could be home .... now. Or now. Or now. Light turns green. Go.

3:10 p.m. Arrive home. New entertainment center from a friend is sitting outside house. Wonder how on earth I can move that inside. Get kids into house. Garrett and friend descend to basement to play the Wii. Run down and put baseball shirts into dryer. Remove baseball pants from dryer. Sort another load of darks and put in washer. Sit down at computer to gear up for the remainder of the day.

Still to come ...

*feeding four boys dinner (thank goodness for Orange Chicken from Trader Joe's yum.)
*getting Evan to baseball at 5.
*getting Garrett and friend to baseball at another field, also at 5.
*putting accessories back on top of desk
*taking a shower to remove the layers of sweat that have accumulated
*moving entertainment center down to family room
*more laundry
*get kids home from baseball, bathed and in bed
*play on the Wii. Goal: to reach level 15 on ToeJam & Earl.
*collapse into bed, thankful that there is only 1 more night alone before reinforcements arrive.

Ahhh, the drama of the stay-at-home mom. Notice how very little I am actually home. LOL