How I use my time

With most jobs how you spend your time during your shift can be broken down differently depending on the day. Same goes for us stay at home moms. OK, let me stop there and explain that being a stay at home mom IS a job, one of the hardest jobs. And if you don't agree then stay tuned for a future post on that subject. I won't spend my time in this post explaining and getting off subject like I usually do. Oh, wait.... :p

Here are a few examples of how I allot my time when I'm on the job:

Example A:

1. 25% of my day is spent finding things.
2. 25% of my day is spent losing them.
3. 25% of my day is spent lecturing on putting your stuff where it goes so I can eliminate the need to spend 25% of my day looking for things.
4. 25% of my day is spent removing, organizing, picking up and de-cluttering so I can either find things I lose or find things I need to use.

Take my washing machine for example; my husband and kids look at the washing machine not as an appliance used for doing laundry, but as a hunk of metal good for piling things on top of. Refer to #1, #3 & #4. I must remove things from the top of the washing machine where they do not belong to find it then I lecture about it later. This lecturing and finding time can also be directed to the big round receptacle for dirty laundry located right in front of the big hunk of metal used for piling. Of course, I am wasting that 25% of my time lecturing that I could spend doing something more productive, perhaps spending 50% of my time organizing. They never listen to a word of it, but fussing about it makes me feel better.

Example B:

1. 50% of my time is spent saying "No", "Don't", "Stop" (those 3 are never used in the same sentence just in case your wondering) "Who did that?", "I'm warning you..", "Get out of my dyer", "Go put that up", Don't kick the dog", "Eat what's on your plate first", "Ask your dad".....
2. 50% of my time is spent giving into the demands of the 3 individuals I am saying all the above listed phrases to, and includes but is not limited to doing the things I told them to ask their dad to do for them. There may also be lecturing in this allotted time as well.

Example C:

1. 75% of my time is spent being used as a human jungle gym, teething ring and snot rag. My hair is used as a monkey rope and my legs as a trotty horse. While trying to solve the mystery of just exactly what that spot in the carpet is. I clean up messes, poop, vomit, spills and accidents. I scrub surfaces regularly with disinfectants. Spray febreeze and vacuum up crumbs. I wash, rinse, fold and repeat at least 4 times a day. I cook & create. I nurture and comfort. I love & laugh, sometimes cry. I investigate & problem solve, referee & punish.
2. 25% of my time is spent sleeping with one eye open. Taking quick showers. Bathroom breaks being supervised by my kids, of course.

*If I hadn't mentioned it before, I am an excellent multi-tasker... so, walking into a room and not remembering why can be inserted anywhere in Examples A,B & C! As well as having manic outbursts and uncontrollable crying, nervous breakdowns and talking to myself.

. . . . . and you thought your job was interesting!

I could go all the way through the alphabet, probably more than once with examples... but you get the idea.