Wednesday, May 4, 2011

How do you stay sane?

Okay, I'm not saying every day is like this, but lots of days are. Today is particularly crazy (and yet I found 5 minutes to blog!) and I know lots of you wonderful mothers out there have days just like this too. I'm wondering what keeps you going? What keeps you from not going crazy? How do you stay sane? I want to know!


8:00 Wake-up (I know, I'm lazy...my kids don't start school until 9:15!)
get ready, eat breakfast, sign papers for kids to take back to school, etc.
9:00 Take kids to school
9:15 Drop off Kate at gym day care
9:30 Go to step aerobics
10:45 Get back home, do some laundry, clean up a bit, etc.
12:08 Pick up Emma from Kindergarten
12:30 Feed girls lunch
1:00 Take a shower!
1:30 Put Kate down for a nap
2:15 Pick up Landon from school (5th graders had a different schedule today)
2:45 Teach 2 piano lessons (today is my light day...only 2 lessons!)
4:00 Pick up Daniel and Sophie who had to wait 1/2 hour and started walking...I didn't know they didn't have choir today!
4:05 Send Landon off to Scouts
4:30 Take Daniel to baseball game and hope he makes it to his friends afterwards
5:00 Do hair and make-up for Emma's dance rehearsal and pictures
5:30 Feed everyone something
6:00 Drop off Emma for dance and pictures and hope that she makes it to her friends afterwards
6:05 Drive to BYU for Landon's Hope of America program
6:45 Drop off Landon and go meet Richard somewhere for a quick bite to eat
8:30 Head on back to Lehi and pick up Daniel and Emma
9:00 Begin the bed time routine/process
10:00 Kids in bed and asleep........aaaaaah!
11:30 We're in bed and asleep!

So here's what helps me stay sane.
* Diet Coke
* Zumba
* Food in general (okay, mostly chocolate)
* A special visit to Starbucks for a treat and/or drink for me!
* Going to the mall (not necessarily buying anything)
* Shopping (other than grocery)
* Day dreaming
* Playing the piano and singing (sometimes at the same time)
* Reading blogs
* Watching mindless TV at the end of the day after the kids are in bed
* Laughing with Richard
* Hugs and kisses from my kids

How about you? Do tell!


7 comments:

highdeekay said...

Hmmm, you're assuming I AM sane. Hard to stay sane unless you begin that way. :)

I think your list is pretty complete. I suppose it goes without saying that scripture and prayer are necessities. It is funny, I can always tell if I haven't done those.

NPR helps me feel like a grown up so if I feel like I'm being sucked into a kid-only world, I like to turn it on and hear what is going on in the rest of the world. Definitely time with family is important. My mom and sister each live a half mile away and hanging with them is a good sanity builder.

Another thing I forget about too often is to stop the to-do lists and just play with E. Relaxing and enjoying the playing part of motherhood is a great way to reclaim my sanity.

Thanks for prompting me to think about this.

Karen and Joe said...

Karen's secrets to staying sane---
Okay, so here goes because you KNOW I AM PERFECT!
1. Pull out hair frequently
2. Occasional coke for pick me up but not diet and not too often or will bring on MIGRAINE which will put you in bed for days!
3. Look around at all that needs to be done and just stare at it because you're overwhelmed. This helps the time go by while kids are in school or running around trying to kill each other.
4. Now that your 12 yr. old is finally potty trained you don't have to worry about anything else EVER AGAIN.
5. When this said 12 yr. old refuses to go to school for the 27th time this year(LITERALLY) don't freak out, what are they going to do, put you in jail?
5. Melt chocolate over a double boiler until thin enough to empty into an I.V. bag and administer it as needed to yourself throughout the day. (Milk chocolate is best, dark will give you migraines and then bed is needed which isn't bad just no fun with pain and nausea.
6. Always LAUGH! Laughter is truly the best medicine and even though it leaves lines on our faces it also leaves traces of HOPE.

Seriously, I laugh, I cry, I overeat, I get out and walk some days when I can, I pray, I swear, I feel totally overwhelmed with 2 disabled kids and totally blessed at the same time.
I take it ONE DAY AT A TIME and try not to compare myself to anyone else and know that no matter what, tomorrow is another and NEW day. That all 7 of my kids love me and so does my husband and my Heavenly Father and my Savior.
And I LOVE THEM.

Heather said...

I love it! That is way funny. I think that I'm pretty much the same! Dr. Pepper, laying out on the tramp, sleep, definately mindless t.v., going out on a date every weekend with brent even though we really can't afford it, and for sure chocolate! I love you hang in there, can't wait to see you on Saturday!

Rod and Jess said...

No secrets here - I don't even pretend to be sane anymore! :) I love your crazy list and life - but what I love even more is that you do ALL of it with a beautiful smile on your face! From the outside, we are all positive you've got life all figured out! You are gracious, kind and beautiful and always so sweet and happy to talk to! Hang in there! Either that, or I'm totally down for a chocolate I.V. party!

Layne said...

John is what keeps me sane. We would all be dead so many times without him.

Jill said...

A lot of things on your list keep me sane too.

Something I have enjoyed doing lately is cooking. I am not much of a cook so it's something new. I have loved trying to find new and interesting ways to bring veggies into our diets. It's funny how it's become a little hobby of mine!

I also have an Improv troupe that Mike and I do every Friday night. Just having something fun planned at the end of the week helps my sanity levels tons!!!

Lisa said...

I love your honesty. It's nice to know I'm not the only mom that doesn't get up at 6 a.m. for an hour of scripture study. :) I'm still trying to figure out how to get a shower before noon. And I love that you said you'd feed the kids "something" as opposed to "dinner". It's nice to know other moms feel like the day is one big lump of craziness. I guess we have to laugh at the little moments to stay sane!