There Is Never Enough Time To Do Everything, But There Is Always Enough Time To Do The Most Important Things

So I sat down last night at 10:00 after putting the Little One to bed, and asked myself why I hadn't gotten more writing done during the day. I mean, here we are halfway through summer, and I have yet to finish two articles that were started a month ago. I decided to review the last 24 hours and examine what the problem was.

The previous night, Little One had a friend over to spend the night...now not the BFF...just a regular friend who had never spent the night before. So she did not quite understand the unspoken "house rules". You can laugh, play, scream, giggle...whatever, up to 10:00. But when I put you to bed at 10:00...I go for my jog...and when I come back, you have to be asleep. Now the BFF knows this rule, because she spends hundreds of nights here a year...but she was out of town, and her "sub" was sweet, but clueless. So when I returned from my jog at 10:40...and there was still noise coming from the room.. it was a sign that nothing else would be accomplished that night.
Yesterday morning, I woke all 3 (The Boy, Little One and friend) up for basketball camp. As I dropped them off, I was relieved to have 3 full hours to write...until The Boy reminded me that I had promised that HIS friend could spend the afternoon with us. (Any moms out there know that sinking feeling you get when you have to admit that you did agree to something last week...and now it is this week, and you have to do it). So I gave the ok and headed home to straighten up a bit, because you know, his mom would be coming to pick him up and the house was a wreck after 2 ten year old girls had spent the night....To The Boys credit, he had made a small attempt to clean his room. This means there were 42 piles of "stuff" stacked around the room. I decided to help him out, and spent an inordinate amount of time dusting and cleaning....when I finished an hour later, the room looked great. (And I will say that The Boy whispered to me "Thanks for the room clean" sometime during the afternoon.)
After this, The Husband called and reminded me that I had to do some banking business for him...which required a wardrobe change. I did the banking...and it was time to pick up the kids. Ok, no morning writing accomplished.

Picked up the kids and headed to the agreed-upon fast-food joint for lunch. When we returned home, boy and friend played the Wii while listening to their i-pod music on loud speakers. Though I tried, there was no writing to be accomplished while listening to Kanye blaring from the speakers. I gave up and agreed to help Little One paint her fingernails. What this means is that she does it herself the first time, makes a complete mess, and then I come in for the save...which requires removing everything she did and starting over again. An hour later, the BFF returns from out-of-town and joins us, which means there are 2 sets of nails which now have to be painted...

Ok, so half an hour before The Boy's friend's mom is due to arrive, they decide to go swimming. So we (The Boy, the friend, the next-door-neighbor boy, the Little One and BFF) pack up and head off to the pool. I am asked to keep watch at the gate for the soon-to-arrive mom....so after about 10 minutes of swimming, 4 wet towels and bathing suits...she arrives. I'm home-free...or not...
The Boy has baseball practice and I have forgotten to wash his pants...which causes some turmoil. Little One has softball practice, and in order to avoid another melt-down by mom, dresses herself and puts her hair in a ponytail all by herself. At 5:45...15 minutes before Boy is suppose to be ready to leave with The Husband...he is STARVING...which means last night's spaghetti has to be heated up...but then the debate begins, because The Boy wants to eat the whole thing, but Little One has decided she wants some too...

4 hours and 2 practices later...we are all home, bathed, fed...and Little One is tucked into bed. The Boy has another hour to go before bedtime...and he is going back and forth between his Wii and the Braves game. The Husband and I get a quick 15 minutes to catch up on the day....

I ask myself once again, why aren't you writing more?...and I think I have my answer..

So until next week, when I am going to have to adjust my alarm clock waking-up time so that I can come up with 5 minutes of peace...but I will also remember that these days of summer are to be cherished, because I know that once school starts up again, I will miss the chaos....