Boring?

I have two friends I used to work with. One is single, never married, no children. One is married and has a little daughter (1), and works full-time. Occasionally I meet one or both of them for dinner. Always, they ask something like, "So... what do you DO during the day?" I smile, because their tone implies that what they're really asking is this: "Isn't it boring to be home all day?"

I thought of this again this morning as I finally sat down. Out of curiosity, I spent a couple minutes remembering-- than jotting down what we'd done so far:

-Alarm goes off at 6:20, I'm up.

-I leave to go walking with my mom.

-Back in the house, I hear that our youngest is awake in his crib.

-I see my husband off to work. I hop into the shower.

-Shower is interrupted a couple of minutes later by the pitter-patter of littlefeet. First, my daughter (4) , then my oldest son (3). I peek my head out to say good morning and give them wet kisses.

-They exit the bathroom to check on little brother (1), leave the door open. Steam from my hot shower sets off the smoke alarm.

-I scramble out of the shower, alarm is stopped, I get dressed.

-I get our youngest son out of bed.

-Change both boys' diapers.

-Oldest son's jammies are wet; we head downstairs to find some clothes. Find them in the hampers of clean laundry that are sitting in front of the dryer; waiting to be carried upstairs. (Laundry days at our house are Monday and Tuesday. It's Friday. None of our laundry has been folded or put away for the week. And I'm sure if I checked, there's a load that has been sitting in the washing machine for a couple of days.)

-Get oldest son dressed.

-Grab wrapping paper, tape and scissors and wrap gifts for a birthday party we're going to later in the morning.

-Send my daughter to get crayons, get the kids busy coloring on the wrapping paper while I try to load the dishwasher. (I like to start my day with a clean kitchen and we had a birthday party to go to last night so it didn't get done.)

-Phone rings. It's my mom. Her hairdryer broke, can she come over and use mine? Yes.

-I get the kids snuggled on the couch to watch Zoboomafu, mom comes in.

-Mom dries her hair, we chit-chat for a few minutes, she leaves, kids say goodbye from the couch.

-I head to finish loading up the dishwasher, hoping I'll have some time to check email, too... while the kids are watching TV.

-My daughter realizes grandma just left. And she wanted to wave goodbye from the window. I told her it was too late; grandma was already gone. She begins to cry. I ask her to stop. She's distracted by the TV. I turn the TV off, send her to my room for a time-out.

-I turn the TV back on for the boys, go to talk with my daughter.

-My daughter's time-out has now turned into a need to administer the rod of correction. I do that. I then ask her to sit on my bed quietly for a few minutes and think of her attitude.

-I go check email (3 min), bring clothes for my daughter on the way up the stairs (also found in hampers!)

-Go into our room to pray with her, remind her of this verse: "A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control" . I hug her. The boys interrupt us once, as Zoboo is now over. I tell them to wait in the living room for us. They obey, but then we hear some commotion while Ella is praying for wisdom and self-control. Both boys are crying and making their way back to us.

-We wrap up; I find out that my younger son had bitten my older son on the hand, so he retaliated by biting my younger son back- on the arm. I check both boys' arms; they're fine. I give a stern reprimand to crying younger son, and a swat. Send oldest son to the room to await discipline. Daughter is getting dressed.

-I talk to my older son about how he should not retaliate if he is bitten, hit, or pushed. I lead him in a prayer where he confesses that he made trouble with his brother by biting, and asks God to strengthen him in kindness and love. He is disciplined and goes to make things right with his brother.

-It is way past time for breakfast.

-I go to make pancakes.

-Oldest son is requesting a cup of milk, daughter would like a cup of water with ice. As I'm getting those (and making pancakes), I notice that the ice cube trays need to be refilled. I do that.

-While they eat, I finally get the dishwasher loaded.

-By the time I'm done, the kids are done and need to be cleaned up. I stall them so I can sit and eat.

-I look at the clock.

It is 9:30.

Boring? Nah. Our days are pretty eventful, actually!