I always like participating in MamaBlogga’s group writing project, but this topic, The New Normal, is particularly timely because I’ve recently come to the conclusion that our fast-paced, jam-packed, long days are no longer the exception, but the rule.
Many of you might be thinking, “Duh! What took you so long to realize that?”

The answer [...]

Yesterday (Sunday!) my oldest daughter had a soccer tournament. So we got up at 6:00 a.m., and left at 6:45 a.m. without eating breakfast, so we could drive 45 minutes to the soccer fields and unpack our chairs, cooler, soccer gear, diaper bag and stroller in time for a four-game tournament in 90+ degree weather. [...]

Yesterday I tried to cram in all of the tasks that should’ve been done over the long weekend: Sort the kids clothes (yes, I’m still doing that dreadful chore), clean out the garage, load after load of laundry, clean the refrigerator, and complete the school forms that have been on my counter for a week, [...]

I need my sleep. Unlike my hubby who can get five to six hours of sleep without any obvious physical or emotional repercussions, I need at least eight hours, preferably nine! So for the bulk of our marriage, I’ve been going to bed around 10:00 p.m., while my hubby has been staying up at [...]

It’s crazy how busy we all are.

Busy working part-time and full-time inside and outside the home.
Busy parenting, chaperoning, disciplining, spending time as a family.
Busy driving to soccer games, girl scouts, music lessons and field trips.
Busy doing laundry, yard work, housework and grocery shopping.
Busy checking homework, signing permission slips, packing lunches and doing school projects.
Busy volunteering [...]

4:00 p.m. Kids get off school bus.
4:05 p.m. Using drill sergeant tempo, get kids to unpack their backpacks, use the bathroom, eat a snack, put on soccer uniform, grab violin/music and get into minivan, while checking homework, packing diaper bag, then frantically changing baby [...]

I’m pathologically late. Not by much, five or ten minutes, but enough to drive my hubby crazy (which takes some doing because nothing gets to him). However, it’s not arriving at our destination five or ten minutes late that’s causing me to unravel, it’s the five or ten minutes before we leave the house that [...]

It was very important to me that I go with Sweet Angel on her end of the year class trip. Not because they were going to the American Museum of Natural History, but because I wanted her to know that no matter how busy I am caring for her baby sister, that I always have [...]