while i do not miss the snow and cold weather, i miss the fact that you can ski really easily there.
i was reminded today, via this blog http://mom2my6pack.blogspot.com/ about the ease of going skiing in the state of IL. when i was growing up my parents enrolled me in a program called Trolls. for about 10+ weeks during the winter, every saturday from dec - feb basically, you would meet a coach bus with all of your ski gear, while it was still dark outside, and you'd be driven up to Wilmot Mt. in WI. a lot of kids i went to school with were in the program with me. it was soooo much fun!
you'd ski all day long, have lunch, hang out, make friends and more. if you were good you were on your own, if you weren't you had lessons. it really was the best way to spend saturdays during the winter. fun and great exercise too!!!
while i LOVE the north shore and would love to raise my family in glenview or wilmette the winters are too cold, too snowy and too long for me. i can barely stand our VA winters ( and i mean barely). but i really do wish i could move back to chicago JUST to raise my kids with skiing. i would love to be able to take them to the scandinavian ski shop https://www.scanskishop.com/ ( next to the pancake house, YUM!!!! http://www.walkerbrosoph.com/ ) to buy their boots and poles and skis, and all of the special coats and pants and socks :) and then drop them off while it was still dark, so that they could learn how to ski down black diamonds without fear, manage mogels, and do jumps :).
skiing was a huge part of my life till i had an accident my freshman year of high school. i never really went back after that. tried once, but it was really hard on the knee that i injured. i wish it could be a part of our lives now. sigh :)
dawn, thanks for the memories. :)
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
Super duper frustrated!!
a little background
last summer we had some contractors/ flooring people give us quotes for hardwood in our family room, kitchen, and living room. they all came in the same, but one guy also did granite counter tops and we wanted those done too, so we went with him.
he seemed smart at the time :) he told us that we had different flooring in our entry way and dining room, one was macro and one was micro, and that we wanted to go with micro for the rest of the house. sounded good to us. i asked if he could match the floors in our entry and dining rooms and his response was " no problem." we never got into any more discussion from it. he never told us that the finish would be hard to match, he never asked if we knew the manufacturer, or if we had any of the old wood hanging around. just " no problem."
in sept, right after the baby was born, we signed the contract with him to do the work. he showed us a sample at the store, and talked about matching the color and we agreed to the butterscotch. i ASSumed that the finish would be matched as well, that he had written it down some where, or something along those lines. since he never mentioned that it would be an issue, i never knew to ask if it was going to be one. :(
after the family room was installed, it was OBVIOUS that the floors did not match. at 830p i was talking to the crew chief about it. i showed him where the old floors ended and the new ones began and how you could see that the new floors were a matte finish. pretty, but not the same. he said he'd call the boss at home right then, but i told him we'd call in the morning. there was no reason to bother him at home at almost 9p. they still had to come back the next day to finish our living room. we called the next morning about the mismatched floors and the boss's daughter gave us a quote of 1200.00 to replace the old wood with the new stuff. that wasn't what we wanted to do because we didn't feel like it was our fault. we were told they would match, and they didn't. they did not tell us about the inability to match a finish until we called and pestered them for almost 2!!! weeks. after 2 weeks we were told that it was nearly impossible to match finishes. the boss finally came out to our house to look at them. he told us too that it was nearly impossible to match finishes. that even with the manufacturers info it's hard. WELL, that would've been nice to know BEFORE we agreed to the floors and had them installed!!!!
HIS solution was to apply a coat of polyurethane to the new floors to get them shiny like the old ones. we agreed to this, and things just got worse after that. the company sent out a guy by himself. he didn't sand or clean the floors at all. he simply put one single coat of oil based polyurethane down and said, " don't walk on the floors for 24 hrs." the boss had originally told us to stay off the floors for 8 hrs. SO, we stayed off of them for 56 hrs. mind you we couldn't really use our family room or our kitchen during this time. after 56 hrs we decided to have our ritual movie night with the kids and attempted to bring our tv back in. immediately we realized the the polyurethane was peeling off of the floor everytime we moved something. steve was able to leave his thumb print and i was able to leave and sock mark, heal print, AND peel more polyurethane up by rubbing my toe on the floor. it was shocking and aggravating!!!
we started calling the company and after about 2.5 weeks, again, they finally sent someone out to look at it. they sent joe, a floor specialist. basically, he told us that they ruined the floors by doing what they did. that they never should've even offered polyurethane as a solution. he went on to tell us that his recommendation would be to sand the entire first floor and refinish it all at the same time, and that we would need to be out of our house for 1-2 weeks. WE wanted the floors torn up and relayed, but he said you start to mess with the integrity of what is underneath when you do that. we did NOT agree to the sanding and refinishing, he said he'd have the boss's daughter call us to talk.
so, they never called. a week later we called and the boss said that we agreed to have the sanding and refinishing done and they were just waiting for us to set the date for that. i told him we hadn't agreed and that we had questions, mostly where were we supposed to go for 1-2 weeks? what were we going to do with all of our furniture if the entire first floor was being sanded and refinished? how were they going to contain the mess? what was OUR guarantee that they were not going to mess up the job again. the first job was done HORRIBLY. there were streaks and bubbles and areas missing everywhere. a very chop job.
steve called him after i did and basically the boss said he would answer no more of our questions and hung up.
we wrote them a letter and got a second opinion. the second opinion said the same thing. do the entire first floor to make sure you don't have ridges and lines. and that we would need to be out of the house, furniture included, for 1-2 weeks. the second opinion included things like the shoe moldings and closing up ducts and the second story to contain the dust that will be EVERYWHERE with a job like this!
they wrote back and their letter was full of lies. we addressed their lies with another letter. we filed with the BBB, and they addressed our filing, with even more lies. we had a friend here when the boss stopped by and discussed what to do about the mismatched floors. he said that he chose that finish because we have 4 small children and it is a great finish for hiding scratches and what not. he said that, we have a witness, she addressed his comment to him stating that, choosing the finish was not his call to make. in their letter to the BBB they said they never talked to us about that, that they don't know where we got that information, and that it was of no relevence since they did not do that. GRRR!!!! i hate being called a liar, when i DO NOT LIE.
the letter has lots of other lies in it was well. they stated that they ALWAYS let their customers know about mismatching, which they didn't with us. they never mentioned it UNTIL AFTER the floors were in and we were unhappy. they stated that they CLEARLY communicated with us that there was no way for them to match the floors, which they didn't do. because if they had done that, we would've had them tear ALL OF THE hardwood out of our house and would've gone with something totally new for the entire first floor!!! we are not stupid people. we didn't not hear them, it was never said to us. NEVER. i don't like the old hardwood in our house, we didn't put it in. it's not something i would chose. BUT, since we were only having 3 rooms done and the rest of the first floor was already hardwood it seemed the easiest, least stressful and expensive route to go. afterall, we had JUST had a baby like 2 weeks earlier, or something insane like that.
anyway!!!!! i am furious. i know this is not going to end up going anywhere. the company, Ana Granite and FLooring, in Sterling VA. has several BBB complaints against them, which we did not find until about a month ago :(. and NONE of them are resolved. in Ana's letter to the BBB they still feel that they did nothing wrong, that they clearly communicated with us, that the mismatch was our fault, and that in our case the customer is NOT right.
meanwhile, the floors still have issues. we get indentations from furniture, and HUGE gouges. we spent a lot of money on basically floors that are going to be ruined in a short amount of time. all we want is for them to do is refund us our money, or replace the hardwood at their cost. and an apology would be nice too!!!!
thanks for reading. if you got this far.
last summer we had some contractors/ flooring people give us quotes for hardwood in our family room, kitchen, and living room. they all came in the same, but one guy also did granite counter tops and we wanted those done too, so we went with him.
he seemed smart at the time :) he told us that we had different flooring in our entry way and dining room, one was macro and one was micro, and that we wanted to go with micro for the rest of the house. sounded good to us. i asked if he could match the floors in our entry and dining rooms and his response was " no problem." we never got into any more discussion from it. he never told us that the finish would be hard to match, he never asked if we knew the manufacturer, or if we had any of the old wood hanging around. just " no problem."
in sept, right after the baby was born, we signed the contract with him to do the work. he showed us a sample at the store, and talked about matching the color and we agreed to the butterscotch. i ASSumed that the finish would be matched as well, that he had written it down some where, or something along those lines. since he never mentioned that it would be an issue, i never knew to ask if it was going to be one. :(
after the family room was installed, it was OBVIOUS that the floors did not match. at 830p i was talking to the crew chief about it. i showed him where the old floors ended and the new ones began and how you could see that the new floors were a matte finish. pretty, but not the same. he said he'd call the boss at home right then, but i told him we'd call in the morning. there was no reason to bother him at home at almost 9p. they still had to come back the next day to finish our living room. we called the next morning about the mismatched floors and the boss's daughter gave us a quote of 1200.00 to replace the old wood with the new stuff. that wasn't what we wanted to do because we didn't feel like it was our fault. we were told they would match, and they didn't. they did not tell us about the inability to match a finish until we called and pestered them for almost 2!!! weeks. after 2 weeks we were told that it was nearly impossible to match finishes. the boss finally came out to our house to look at them. he told us too that it was nearly impossible to match finishes. that even with the manufacturers info it's hard. WELL, that would've been nice to know BEFORE we agreed to the floors and had them installed!!!!
HIS solution was to apply a coat of polyurethane to the new floors to get them shiny like the old ones. we agreed to this, and things just got worse after that. the company sent out a guy by himself. he didn't sand or clean the floors at all. he simply put one single coat of oil based polyurethane down and said, " don't walk on the floors for 24 hrs." the boss had originally told us to stay off the floors for 8 hrs. SO, we stayed off of them for 56 hrs. mind you we couldn't really use our family room or our kitchen during this time. after 56 hrs we decided to have our ritual movie night with the kids and attempted to bring our tv back in. immediately we realized the the polyurethane was peeling off of the floor everytime we moved something. steve was able to leave his thumb print and i was able to leave and sock mark, heal print, AND peel more polyurethane up by rubbing my toe on the floor. it was shocking and aggravating!!!
we started calling the company and after about 2.5 weeks, again, they finally sent someone out to look at it. they sent joe, a floor specialist. basically, he told us that they ruined the floors by doing what they did. that they never should've even offered polyurethane as a solution. he went on to tell us that his recommendation would be to sand the entire first floor and refinish it all at the same time, and that we would need to be out of our house for 1-2 weeks. WE wanted the floors torn up and relayed, but he said you start to mess with the integrity of what is underneath when you do that. we did NOT agree to the sanding and refinishing, he said he'd have the boss's daughter call us to talk.
so, they never called. a week later we called and the boss said that we agreed to have the sanding and refinishing done and they were just waiting for us to set the date for that. i told him we hadn't agreed and that we had questions, mostly where were we supposed to go for 1-2 weeks? what were we going to do with all of our furniture if the entire first floor was being sanded and refinished? how were they going to contain the mess? what was OUR guarantee that they were not going to mess up the job again. the first job was done HORRIBLY. there were streaks and bubbles and areas missing everywhere. a very chop job.
steve called him after i did and basically the boss said he would answer no more of our questions and hung up.
we wrote them a letter and got a second opinion. the second opinion said the same thing. do the entire first floor to make sure you don't have ridges and lines. and that we would need to be out of the house, furniture included, for 1-2 weeks. the second opinion included things like the shoe moldings and closing up ducts and the second story to contain the dust that will be EVERYWHERE with a job like this!
they wrote back and their letter was full of lies. we addressed their lies with another letter. we filed with the BBB, and they addressed our filing, with even more lies. we had a friend here when the boss stopped by and discussed what to do about the mismatched floors. he said that he chose that finish because we have 4 small children and it is a great finish for hiding scratches and what not. he said that, we have a witness, she addressed his comment to him stating that, choosing the finish was not his call to make. in their letter to the BBB they said they never talked to us about that, that they don't know where we got that information, and that it was of no relevence since they did not do that. GRRR!!!! i hate being called a liar, when i DO NOT LIE.
the letter has lots of other lies in it was well. they stated that they ALWAYS let their customers know about mismatching, which they didn't with us. they never mentioned it UNTIL AFTER the floors were in and we were unhappy. they stated that they CLEARLY communicated with us that there was no way for them to match the floors, which they didn't do. because if they had done that, we would've had them tear ALL OF THE hardwood out of our house and would've gone with something totally new for the entire first floor!!! we are not stupid people. we didn't not hear them, it was never said to us. NEVER. i don't like the old hardwood in our house, we didn't put it in. it's not something i would chose. BUT, since we were only having 3 rooms done and the rest of the first floor was already hardwood it seemed the easiest, least stressful and expensive route to go. afterall, we had JUST had a baby like 2 weeks earlier, or something insane like that.
anyway!!!!! i am furious. i know this is not going to end up going anywhere. the company, Ana Granite and FLooring, in Sterling VA. has several BBB complaints against them, which we did not find until about a month ago :(. and NONE of them are resolved. in Ana's letter to the BBB they still feel that they did nothing wrong, that they clearly communicated with us, that the mismatch was our fault, and that in our case the customer is NOT right.
meanwhile, the floors still have issues. we get indentations from furniture, and HUGE gouges. we spent a lot of money on basically floors that are going to be ruined in a short amount of time. all we want is for them to do is refund us our money, or replace the hardwood at their cost. and an apology would be nice too!!!!
thanks for reading. if you got this far.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
i have a confession :)
i love to rearrange furniture :). i am always trying to figure out the most pleasing way to arrange the furniture. i feel like it's an illness.
we have a first floor with a nice open floor plan, but our family room also has a large fireplace flanked by windows on both sides. So, of course i want that wall to be the focal point. but we can't put a TV on that wall, and we can't put a flat screen above the fireplace because it's uneven stone. so, we had a wall unit on the long wall across from the eat- in kitchen, but i felt that the room was being dwarfed by it. the TV can only go on that long wall because of the outlet situation.
i think we finally have a nice solution. at least i hope i feel that way for awhile now :)
tonight we had 2 kids fall off the bed while walking from one to the other. so, we dismantled one tiwn and decided to trundle the beds. of course i make this decision AT bed time. that is a classic move of mine. we have the three girls in one room, but it's a HUGE HUGE HUGE room. so, it works.
gotta go change a stinky dipey!
we have a first floor with a nice open floor plan, but our family room also has a large fireplace flanked by windows on both sides. So, of course i want that wall to be the focal point. but we can't put a TV on that wall, and we can't put a flat screen above the fireplace because it's uneven stone. so, we had a wall unit on the long wall across from the eat- in kitchen, but i felt that the room was being dwarfed by it. the TV can only go on that long wall because of the outlet situation.
i think we finally have a nice solution. at least i hope i feel that way for awhile now :)
tonight we had 2 kids fall off the bed while walking from one to the other. so, we dismantled one tiwn and decided to trundle the beds. of course i make this decision AT bed time. that is a classic move of mine. we have the three girls in one room, but it's a HUGE HUGE HUGE room. so, it works.
gotta go change a stinky dipey!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
THREE words!!!
GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!!!
WHY, are they so gosh darn good and addicting? I normally DO NOT like store made cookies. i will eat one maybe and that's it. i much prefer home made cookies. But man, there is something about girl scout cookies. they are the only " can't eat just one" cookie i eat LOL.
BUT, i only like three kinds of them, thankfully. i like samoas, tagalongs, and thin mints. that's it!!
we have some in our freezer in the garage, and the garage door is open. i'm sure that my neighbor is wondering WHY i keep going out to the freezer, hahahaha.
do you like GSC?? if so, do you have a favorite?? if you DON"T like them, do you have a treat weakness???
OH, and my girls do not know the cookies are even in our house. THey are mine, all mine.
WHY, are they so gosh darn good and addicting? I normally DO NOT like store made cookies. i will eat one maybe and that's it. i much prefer home made cookies. But man, there is something about girl scout cookies. they are the only " can't eat just one" cookie i eat LOL.
BUT, i only like three kinds of them, thankfully. i like samoas, tagalongs, and thin mints. that's it!!
we have some in our freezer in the garage, and the garage door is open. i'm sure that my neighbor is wondering WHY i keep going out to the freezer, hahahaha.
do you like GSC?? if so, do you have a favorite?? if you DON"T like them, do you have a treat weakness???
OH, and my girls do not know the cookies are even in our house. THey are mine, all mine.
In honour of Tricia and Nate
This post is for everyone to read, in honour of an amazing family that i have had the pleasure of reading about via the internet and their blog http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/
They are an inspiration to me and I hope to be able to share SOMETHING with them.
i can't wait for you to:
-be able to hold your daughter without wires and tubes.
-be able to feed her a bottle and hear her burp :)
-be able to dress her all up, and lay her down in a crib like a big girl
-be awakened in the middle of the night because of her cries
-have her snuggle her head into your neck in an attempt to fall asleep
-see that first toothy grin, and to become a human teething ring
-be able to take her shopping, only to buy anything and everything because it's pink and pretty
-take her to feed ducks for the first time
-hear her laughing and cooing
-give her a real "tubby"
-see her reaction to baby food
-see her reaction to SAND
-be able to push her in a stroller, or walk around with her on your hip
-be able to be with her NON stop, every minute of every day
Little Gwyneth is doing sooo well for a baby born at her gestation. After working in the NICU, you see some babies that hit the ground running and others that just have to work really hard to not lose ground. Gwyneth really is a miracle, really really amazing. Reading about Tricia, Nate and Gwyneth almost daily, has helped me in my life. They have helped me put things in perspective and I really appreciate them for that. I don't know them, I will probably never meet them, but they have definitely left a lasting impression on me. I tell people I meet about them, and I know I will NEVER forget them.
They are an inspiration to me and I hope to be able to share SOMETHING with them.
i can't wait for you to:
-be able to hold your daughter without wires and tubes.
-be able to feed her a bottle and hear her burp :)
-be able to dress her all up, and lay her down in a crib like a big girl
-be awakened in the middle of the night because of her cries
-have her snuggle her head into your neck in an attempt to fall asleep
-see that first toothy grin, and to become a human teething ring
-be able to take her shopping, only to buy anything and everything because it's pink and pretty
-take her to feed ducks for the first time
-hear her laughing and cooing
-give her a real "tubby"
-see her reaction to baby food
-see her reaction to SAND
-be able to push her in a stroller, or walk around with her on your hip
-be able to be with her NON stop, every minute of every day
Little Gwyneth is doing sooo well for a baby born at her gestation. After working in the NICU, you see some babies that hit the ground running and others that just have to work really hard to not lose ground. Gwyneth really is a miracle, really really amazing. Reading about Tricia, Nate and Gwyneth almost daily, has helped me in my life. They have helped me put things in perspective and I really appreciate them for that. I don't know them, I will probably never meet them, but they have definitely left a lasting impression on me. I tell people I meet about them, and I know I will NEVER forget them.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
bella and annaliese both have firsts!
bella has her first ever stomache bug :( started last night at 230a :( she is home from school today.
annaliese hit her 6 mo mark yesterday!!! she has slept through the night officially ONE TIME, in 6 months. that was on sunday night. but, at least we're down to one wake up per night. last night she didn't go to bed until 1130p and was up at 330a, and of course bella was up at 230a and i never fell badck to sleep between those times.
i put bella on our floor and she was up again at about 430a. then steve's alarm clock went off at 445a. he had to go to arlington today. i FINALLY fell asleep at about 545a after he left and bella was sleeping. julianna was up bright and early before 7a :). so, i'm running on about 3.5 hrs or so of sleep, steve is gone, bella has thrown up again, we're keeping alexandra home from school, and i have a friend picking up some stuff for bella at the store. the last thing i want to do right now is take 4 kids, one of whom is SICK, to the grocery store. LOL
hope you all have a better day than we're having!
take care
annaliese hit her 6 mo mark yesterday!!! she has slept through the night officially ONE TIME, in 6 months. that was on sunday night. but, at least we're down to one wake up per night. last night she didn't go to bed until 1130p and was up at 330a, and of course bella was up at 230a and i never fell badck to sleep between those times.
i put bella on our floor and she was up again at about 430a. then steve's alarm clock went off at 445a. he had to go to arlington today. i FINALLY fell asleep at about 545a after he left and bella was sleeping. julianna was up bright and early before 7a :). so, i'm running on about 3.5 hrs or so of sleep, steve is gone, bella has thrown up again, we're keeping alexandra home from school, and i have a friend picking up some stuff for bella at the store. the last thing i want to do right now is take 4 kids, one of whom is SICK, to the grocery store. LOL
hope you all have a better day than we're having!
take care
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
a day in the life
i know that a lot of people have this certain vision of what a stay at home mom is like. they assume that she sits at home, most of the day. she gets to do fun stuff like watch TV and snack, and talk on the telephone, and stay in her PJs all day long. She has plenty of time on her hands to do whatever she wishes with her day, and that her job is pretty gosh darn easy :)
I do think that this thought process is changing somewhat. There have been some articles recently about what a stay at home mom would be paid IF she were making money doing her job. If I recall correctly it was well into the 6 figure range :)
I know that being a stay at home SOUNDS like an easy job, but trust me it's not that easy at all. When I was working in the NICU, that was hard. It was hard because I had to be on top of everything, and keep babies going in the right direction. BUT, after my 8 or 12 hr shift, I got to go home and not think about vent settings, drug drips, feeding schedules, med schedules, until it was time for me to go to work again. Sometimes that was the next time, but more often that not I'd have a day off inbetween or better yet several days off.
As a stay at home mom of 4 kids, 6.5 and under, i can confidently say that my current job is MUCH harder than trying to save the littlest babies i have ever seen. My current job, never ends, i never get a break from thinking about all of the things i have to do and am responsible for.
Here is a very typical day-
i'll start with the night before :)
last night i got the baby down to sleep at about 9p. i worked on cleaning up the first floor for a while and got some laundry folded and into baskets. after a little while i decided to sit down and watch a little TV. got on the computer during this time and checked my emails and message board that i frequent. checked in here and on my other blog to see if anyone had left comments and then checked 2 blogs that i read from time to time. at 11p i got up and finished up with some laundry and got a load of diapers started. headed up stairs around 1130, hopped into bed and CRASHED! got up at 330a with the baby, who needed a new diaper and a feeding. at about 415a i headed back to sleep and was able to sleep until about 7a when i was woken up by steve and his alarm and then the girls.
i was able to hang out in bed for about an hour or so, then it was time to get up and get ready, and make sure that the girls were ready to go. bella starts school at 9a, but we never ever ever seem to get there on time. EVER. this morning looked hopeful, but she was having her usual issues with hairbrushing and eatting when i finally got downstairs. it's a battle pretty much every day to get her ready to go. thankfully today, steve was home and the baby was sleeping and he let me leave everyone else here while i drove bella to school. so, after convincing her to let me brush her hair, and compromising food with a cheese stick, we were out the door at about 905a. dropped her off at 915a and headed over to the PO, and mailed a late package to a friend that had twins in january. i'm running about 1.5 months behind on gifts and notes these days.
got home right before 10a. and started my daily chores. cleaned up part of the kitchen, got alexandra's clothes put away, cleaned the girls' bedroom and their bathroom. Came down stairs and worked with xandra on her book for her reading test today and then got her ready to leave for kindergarten. she headed out the door at 1112a, and i ran upstairs to wake up the baby who was STILL sleeping!! got her fed, and finished up just in time to throw the two youngest in the car to go get bella from school at noon.
we got home from school and julianna and bella played while i got them some lunch, and again cleaned up the kitchen. finished up washing the diapers and got them in the dryer. fed the baby again and threw her on my back in my ergo baby carrier www.ergobabycarrier.com so that i could do more chores around the house without having to hold her in my arms or listen to her cry in her exersaucer.
answered some emails about some stuff i am selling, and then tried to get the baby down for a nap. steve was heading out to the gym, so he offered to get alexandra from school when he was done. normally, i don't let the baby sleep until after i have picked her up at 225p. so, today annaliese was able to sleep from 130p ( when she fell asleep on my back) till 330p. after alexandra got home i sat down for about 35 minutes. we worked on some school work and she showed me stuff that they had done in school. we looked over a coin quiz she had taken too.
at 445p i got up and started working on dinner, baking bread and making ice cream. tonight's dinner was a lazy one, all veggies, mostly raw. the only thing i cooked was some steamed broccoli. thankfully the girls LOVe veggies. so, dinner like this happens a lot! easy to make and easy to clean up. i got the bread going, and it is currently baking! the ice cream is started and tonight i will finish it up. it is currently 645p and i need to get the dipes out of the dryer and and bella's clothes INTO it.
yes, i don't challenge my brain quite as much as i used to. i don't administer life saving drugs anymore. but, i can't leave my job as mom for as much as a millisecond. if i take even a second too long to respond to someone saying "mom", the kids hit panic mode and there is screaming of "MOMMY" heard from every mountain top in the world. there are a million boo boos per day that need tending to. there are meals and snacks, and the clean up from all said meals and snacks. there are two babies that don't understand " just a minute" to save their lives. there are 6 people that need clean clothes, and a house that just for some reason WILL NOT clean itself. i'm pretty sure that we requested this be a self cleaning model but i think the builders forgot about that feature. i spend the majority of my day till 230p in the car! so, it needs tending to as well. there are sick day on both sides and i never ever get to call out for mine. there are playdates and friends over, there are school parties, birthday parties, and church activities.
there are 4 beautiful faces that rely on me every single day of their lives. and i would not trade that for anything in the world. sure, it might be 'easier' for me to go get a job and do my 8 or 12 hr shift and then not think about work again until the next time i have to go. sure, i could leave my kids in capable hands to go to that job, but in the end, i'd rather be stressed at home with my 4 pretty princesses. i can't imagine doing anything else right now.
so, my accounting for 24 hrs is not yet over. i have to get the girls upstairs now and get them ready for bed. OH NO!!! bella just announced that xandra has hit her :) and apparently i am not hearing her or listening.
until later!
I do think that this thought process is changing somewhat. There have been some articles recently about what a stay at home mom would be paid IF she were making money doing her job. If I recall correctly it was well into the 6 figure range :)
I know that being a stay at home SOUNDS like an easy job, but trust me it's not that easy at all. When I was working in the NICU, that was hard. It was hard because I had to be on top of everything, and keep babies going in the right direction. BUT, after my 8 or 12 hr shift, I got to go home and not think about vent settings, drug drips, feeding schedules, med schedules, until it was time for me to go to work again. Sometimes that was the next time, but more often that not I'd have a day off inbetween or better yet several days off.
As a stay at home mom of 4 kids, 6.5 and under, i can confidently say that my current job is MUCH harder than trying to save the littlest babies i have ever seen. My current job, never ends, i never get a break from thinking about all of the things i have to do and am responsible for.
Here is a very typical day-
i'll start with the night before :)
last night i got the baby down to sleep at about 9p. i worked on cleaning up the first floor for a while and got some laundry folded and into baskets. after a little while i decided to sit down and watch a little TV. got on the computer during this time and checked my emails and message board that i frequent. checked in here and on my other blog to see if anyone had left comments and then checked 2 blogs that i read from time to time. at 11p i got up and finished up with some laundry and got a load of diapers started. headed up stairs around 1130, hopped into bed and CRASHED! got up at 330a with the baby, who needed a new diaper and a feeding. at about 415a i headed back to sleep and was able to sleep until about 7a when i was woken up by steve and his alarm and then the girls.
i was able to hang out in bed for about an hour or so, then it was time to get up and get ready, and make sure that the girls were ready to go. bella starts school at 9a, but we never ever ever seem to get there on time. EVER. this morning looked hopeful, but she was having her usual issues with hairbrushing and eatting when i finally got downstairs. it's a battle pretty much every day to get her ready to go. thankfully today, steve was home and the baby was sleeping and he let me leave everyone else here while i drove bella to school. so, after convincing her to let me brush her hair, and compromising food with a cheese stick, we were out the door at about 905a. dropped her off at 915a and headed over to the PO, and mailed a late package to a friend that had twins in january. i'm running about 1.5 months behind on gifts and notes these days.
got home right before 10a. and started my daily chores. cleaned up part of the kitchen, got alexandra's clothes put away, cleaned the girls' bedroom and their bathroom. Came down stairs and worked with xandra on her book for her reading test today and then got her ready to leave for kindergarten. she headed out the door at 1112a, and i ran upstairs to wake up the baby who was STILL sleeping!! got her fed, and finished up just in time to throw the two youngest in the car to go get bella from school at noon.
we got home from school and julianna and bella played while i got them some lunch, and again cleaned up the kitchen. finished up washing the diapers and got them in the dryer. fed the baby again and threw her on my back in my ergo baby carrier www.ergobabycarrier.com so that i could do more chores around the house without having to hold her in my arms or listen to her cry in her exersaucer.
answered some emails about some stuff i am selling, and then tried to get the baby down for a nap. steve was heading out to the gym, so he offered to get alexandra from school when he was done. normally, i don't let the baby sleep until after i have picked her up at 225p. so, today annaliese was able to sleep from 130p ( when she fell asleep on my back) till 330p. after alexandra got home i sat down for about 35 minutes. we worked on some school work and she showed me stuff that they had done in school. we looked over a coin quiz she had taken too.
at 445p i got up and started working on dinner, baking bread and making ice cream. tonight's dinner was a lazy one, all veggies, mostly raw. the only thing i cooked was some steamed broccoli. thankfully the girls LOVe veggies. so, dinner like this happens a lot! easy to make and easy to clean up. i got the bread going, and it is currently baking! the ice cream is started and tonight i will finish it up. it is currently 645p and i need to get the dipes out of the dryer and and bella's clothes INTO it.
yes, i don't challenge my brain quite as much as i used to. i don't administer life saving drugs anymore. but, i can't leave my job as mom for as much as a millisecond. if i take even a second too long to respond to someone saying "mom", the kids hit panic mode and there is screaming of "MOMMY" heard from every mountain top in the world. there are a million boo boos per day that need tending to. there are meals and snacks, and the clean up from all said meals and snacks. there are two babies that don't understand " just a minute" to save their lives. there are 6 people that need clean clothes, and a house that just for some reason WILL NOT clean itself. i'm pretty sure that we requested this be a self cleaning model but i think the builders forgot about that feature. i spend the majority of my day till 230p in the car! so, it needs tending to as well. there are sick day on both sides and i never ever get to call out for mine. there are playdates and friends over, there are school parties, birthday parties, and church activities.
there are 4 beautiful faces that rely on me every single day of their lives. and i would not trade that for anything in the world. sure, it might be 'easier' for me to go get a job and do my 8 or 12 hr shift and then not think about work again until the next time i have to go. sure, i could leave my kids in capable hands to go to that job, but in the end, i'd rather be stressed at home with my 4 pretty princesses. i can't imagine doing anything else right now.
so, my accounting for 24 hrs is not yet over. i have to get the girls upstairs now and get them ready for bed. OH NO!!! bella just announced that xandra has hit her :) and apparently i am not hearing her or listening.
until later!
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