An appreciation for mothers

My day.

6:15
I wake up to the strong scent of dog poop. Bleary-eyed, I investigate to find that Vivien pooped and peed in her crate in the middle of the night and is covered in it. Even worse, Alex let her out of the crate, as he has been instructed to do when he's the first one up. She has tracked poop all over the dining room floor, and who knows where else. The stench is stifling. I lock Vivien on the back porch, put the dirty crate in the front yard, and mop the dining room floor. All this before coffee, shower, or breakfast.

7:15
I drive Alex to school, much earlier than usual, because he thinks he might have safety patrol duty. Back at home, no lunches were prepared the night before, so I throw together some quick sandwich fixings for Sofia and me. I leave Vivien on the back porch, but the high today is going to be 90 (32 C), and Frenchies can't handle too much heat. So I set up an oscillating fan for her and put her water on the porch. I barely have time for a bagel and coffee before finally getting Sofia in the car. I get to school after 8 am, about 20 mins later than my preferred time.

2:45
School ends. My yearbook editor made me a key lime pie. I get it out of my fridge to take home, but set it down to log off my computer and accidentally leave it in my classroom.

3:00
I drop Sofia off at home, pick up Alex and head to Publix. We buy stuff for dinner. I run into a GHS teacher-friend, Eddy Moore, in the frozen section who jokingly directs me to where the ice cream is. Funny thing is that Cristina had texted me her one and only suggestion for what to get: chocolate ice cream. I hadn't checked my phone so I didn't get her text or the ice cream.

3:30
At home, I clean the dog crate and then start cooking dinner. I'm trying a new meal idea: pork tenderloin, pan-roasted in a skillet, with Carribean jerk marinade.

4:30
Dinner prep continues. Vivien is watching me through the glass-sliding door, panting heavily despite the fan. I just can't deal with poopified dog right now. She'll survive a little longer.

6:00
We finally eat. Dinner took longer than I anticipated, but it turned out great: the pork was tender and flavorful, complemented nicely by Israeli couscous, corn on the cob, and a green leafy salad.

6:15
I drive Alex to football practice. Cristina has a band booster meeting at 7, so I ask the coach if he can give Alex a ride home after practice. He can. I stop at Publix on the way home and buy chocolate ice cream. And 4 or 5 other things. Always the way it works.

7:00
Cristina leaves for her meeting, and I get Bella in the bath. I play some guitar and ukulele in the bathroom while she plays in the tub. We sing Norwegian Wood and In My Life together. After about 30 minutes, I realize I'm dripping with sweat, from the warm humidity of the bathroom. I gotta get out of there. I clean up the kitchen a little and get clothes out of the drier.

8:00
Bella's out of the tub. I carry Vivien in and put her in the cooled off bathwater, give her a good scrubbing. Dog is clean. Crate is clean.

8:15
Alex finally gets home. I get him in the shower while I put Bella in bed.

8:30
Alex and Bella are clean and in bed. Sofia is on the computer, hopefully doing homework, but I suspect a certain amount of facebooking as well.

9:30
I tell Sofia to get in the shower. I prepare crockpot oatmeal for tomorrow's breakfast. Since we finished the couscous, I make a small pot of rice so we can have lunches for tomorrow.

10:00-ish
Cristina gets home. I make a jug of iced tea. I would love a cup of coffee or tea but I know it would keep me up. We are in bed by 11. Much to our chagrin, Sofia is still doing homework, and we vow to create and enforce a new after-school schedule for her to follow. We want her doing homework (with no reading, cell phone, facebook, email, goodreads, etc.) after dinner, shower by 9, lights out at 10. That gives her some down time away from academics directly after school (do your reading and FB'ing then, Sofia) and gives her 8 1/2 hours of sleep per night. The doing-homework-till-midnight-because-she-read-all-evening has to stop! If she can't follow that reasonable request, we'll get drastic (confiscate phone, flip circuit breakers off to her room at 10, etc.).

11:30
Cristina falls asleep quickly, but I toss and turn until midnight. I reflect on my day and how busy it was. I think about all the tasks and decisions (apart from the typical work-related ones) that occurred. It's mind-boggling. I am proud of myself for being fairly productive. But then it hits me that for many mothers (and fathers), my day was not extraordinary. Many mothers have days like mine every day, especially the single-parents out there. Given that yesterday was Mother's Day, I chalk up one more appreciation for all the hard-working mothers in the world. And finally I fall asleep.