Insight

Mother 101

People often ask how I do it. Usually I say, "I don't know." So I decided to sit down and figure it out. We have four daughters; it's one of those "his, hers and ours" things.

I get up. I get everyone else up. My oldest daughter goes to school on one side of Denver, the youngest three on the other side. They all need to be there by 8:30 a.m., which, incidentally, is the start time for my Monday/Wednesday class.

On those two days my youngest goes to Auraria's daycare while I'm in class. I pick her up at 12:30 p.m. to drop her off at her other school by 1:05. While everyone is in school, I am either at school, shooting assignments or taking care of my mom. At 3:30 it's time to start rounding the kids up to go home. Luckily, three of them get out of the same school at the same time, leaving only one more to be picked up 45 minutes later on the other side of town. Then it's home to fix dinner, do homework and chores: there's taking care of our dog, scheduling everyone's doctor, dentist, eye, and other appointments-as well as delivering them there-paying the bills and allowance, watering and mowing the lawn, cleaning house, doing laundry for six, working on the Jeep I'm attempting to build and finishing unpacking since we just moved. And let's not forget there are dance lessons, music lessons, sports, swimming, PTA, PTO, CSC and various other committees responsible parents should attend. Oh wait ... and fund-raising, we can't forget fund-raising (anyone want to buy an E-book?).

Half the time I am shopping at midnight in my PJs when everyone else is sleeping. I average 80 miles per day getting everyone where they need to be and back again. Above all of this, I am on-call for my mom 24-hours-a-day in case she needs help or has to go to the hospital. This is my chaos ... and now I must get to it. It's 11:39 p.m. and I need to go install a new shower head before I can edit my photos, write the captions, complete an online lab for chemistry ... well, you get the idea.

Soccer mom's got nothing on me. I love this stuff!

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[an error occurred while processing this directive]	Volume 28, Issue 05, September 22, 2005 Insight Mother 101 People often ask how I do it. Usually I say, "I don't know." So I decided to sit down and figure it out. We have four daughters; it's one of those "his, hers and ours" things. I get up. I get everyone else up. My oldest daughter goes to school on one side of Denver, the youngest three on the other side. They all need to be there by 8:30 a.m., which, incidentally, is the start time for my Monday/Wednesday class. On those two days my youngest goes to Auraria's daycare while I'm in class. I pick her up at 12:30 p.m. to drop her off at her other school by 1:05. While everyone is in school, I am either at school, shooting assignments or taking care of my mom. At 3:30 it's time to start rounding the kids up to go home. Luckily, three of them get out of the same school at the same time, leaving only one more to be picked up 45 minutes later on the other side of town. Then it's home to fix dinner, do homework and chores: there's taking care of our dog, scheduling everyone's doctor, dentist, eye, and other appointments-as well as delivering them there-paying the bills and allowance, watering and mowing the lawn, cleaning house, doing laundry for six, working on the Jeep I'm attempting to build and finishing unpacking since we just moved. And let's not forget there are dance lessons, music lessons, sports, swimming, PTA, PTO, CSC and various other committees responsible parents should attend. Oh wait ... and fund-raising, we can't forget fund-raising (anyone want to buy an E-book?). Half the time I am shopping at midnight in my PJs when everyone else is sleeping. I average 80 miles per day getting everyone where they need to be and back again. Above all of this, I am on-call for my mom 24-hours-a-day in case she needs help or has to go to the hospital. This is my chaos ... and now I must get to it. It's 11:39 p.m. and I need to go install a new shower head before I can edit my photos, write the captions, complete an online lab for chemistry ... well, you get the idea. Soccer mom's got nothing on me. I love this stuff!
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Volume 28, Issue 05, September 22, 2005

Insight

Mother 101