Today needs a plan. It is only breakfast time, and yet the goal “Do not go slap out of mind” is setting the bar TOO HIGH.
I thought about going to Target, because Target is always a soothing balm unto my soul, but…five children.
I could take them to the park, but the twins are getting their 5-year pictures taken tomorrow, and Edward already has a scrape on his cheekbone and a bug bite on his forehead, and I feel like that is my limit for facial injuries.
I made myself a challenge, a boring and depressing challenge but a challenge nevertheless, to see how many loads of laundry I could get done—and right out of the gate discovered I’d left a load in the washer and would need to re-run it. “That’s going to cost her, Becky.” “You got that right, Jim. We’ll have to see if she can make up the time by shaving some minutes off the next wash cycle.”
Bah. Starting the day in a point deficit is never good. Best I’ve got is TGIF!
My baby decided to start the day at 5:25 this morning. So my long-ass Friday is already an hour longer. Sigh. And my husband said, “maybe he’ll sleep in tomorrow!” like he says every Friday. Has it happened once in 7 months? Nope. Double sigh.
I don’t know where you live, but it sounds like it’s super hot in most of the country lately. Can all of them go play outside in the sprinkler or something?
Um, yeah. I have to make two dozen deviled eggs (which I despise) for YET ANOTHER family reunion tomorrow, and meanwhile have a child with diarrhea and a non-functioning kitchen/laundry room thanks to a completely clogged pipe which roto rooter is expected to fix (for the low low cost of probably a kidney) at some unspecified time later today. So the house looks and smells just LOVERLY. It matches my mood! And now yours!
I think that’s really the only way to approach laundry. As though you’re going to win $10,000 if you get it all done… and if you don’t, maybe someone will dump a bucket of green goo on your head, or shove your washer off a building, or at least insult you behind your back to the entire viewing audience.
To this point, I have sacrificed about 85 washers to The Challenge.
This was always my mom’s trick to keep us occupied and herself sane…
http://fun.familyeducation.com/sculpting/recipes/37040.html
oh man. um… lots of dvds for the kids today, while mommy makes coffee slushies? ooh, or maybe you do need to win something more tangible after each completed load of laundry. like, for example, a coffee slushie. or a handful of chocolate chips.
I think small rewards for each load of laundry completed sounds good! Now I’m craving chocolate chips…
I have no idea how to do anything with 5 kids at once — but our escape plan on days like this is to the library. They have computer games, a play area, a coloring table, air conditioning, etc. Oh, and books. This would cut into laundry time though. Good luck!
Some days mere survival is my only goal. If everyone makes it out alive, the day has been a resounding success.
I like the prize-for-every-load idea. Once you hit afternoon, you can switch to a shot for every load done. Then, you’ll quickly lose interest in the laundry.
I don’t know if it’s a hundred & eleventy-blaglock degrees, like down here in the deep south, where you live, but if it is, you might try “movie day”: get the room as dark as possible, pop some popcorn, sit the kids down in front of Disney & go make yourself a spiked mocha-frappe thingy.
Good. Luck.
I do think a coffee frappe might help. I am having a miserably long week here, since we moved our 2 and 1 year old in together and they wake up at 5:00 every freaking morning for the last week. It makes for the longest day ever. I take on all these cleaning challenges (clean both bathrooms! vacuum entire house! get MORE bags ready to go to Goodwill!) and then I look at the clock and it’s like 7:30. I’m just waiting for bedtime as this stage. TGIF, though? Right?
I too am having a personal laundry challenge. Drying on the line might be my hold up as it’s not very hot today but I have 4-5 loads in the queue.
Any chance you have some videos that would distract the kids? Can the little ones sort laundry? Can the big ones run a “summer camp” for the wee ones? Good luck!
Holy Cow, at least we’re all in good company!
I know this sounds VERY crazy, but sometimes when I’m at my worst, it helps to connect with my kids, like play games and/or focus on them and being WITH them rather than housework.
Of course you can’t play Uno all day, and you do have millions of kids of many different ages, but maybe a series of games, or a crafting day or something.
Also, sometimes this doesn’t work, and I want to knock their little heads together.
My morning was like that, too. I rewarded myself with lunch with a friend and some blog reading time!
Forget the coffee frappe. Think booze.
ugg. i feel your pain. i am right there with you.
get out at least once. i find that makes a huge difference. i have recently been leaving my 7 and 9 year old home alone for a brief time while i take the littles out quickly to either target or the like. rules: no opening the door for anyone (not even UPS) and no using appliances in the kitchen. can you leave your older ones briefly, yet?
splash park?
suggest the kids make up a play to perform for you. everyone gets a part. dress up. hang scenery. keeps them busy for hours! and i am uninvolved 100% (except for clapping politely and enthusiastically after the grand performance)
good luck!
This is summer in a nutshell, isn’t it? Before breakfast you’re already wondering how you can keep the children entertained until bedtime. We’ve been to Target twice this week. Sigh.
Also, have you seen the book ‘Unplugged Play’? It’s chock-full of ideas for days like these. Sadly, the activities mentioned mostly require some level of adult interaction. Which is not what I want on a day like today.
Oh, Swis, it’s nearly over now and I’m wondering if you made it. I hope you made it.
I know this won’t help today so much, but I decided I could not go through another long ass summer like last year, so this year I made a theme for each week. We are going to go to the library each week to get books on that theme and I go online and find age appropriate crafts etc. That is my plan anyways – it makes me feel somewhat organized.
Good luck today!
I made it! We went outside despite the risk of pre-portrait facial injuries, and I DOZED in a chair while the olders were in charge of the youngers, and I “let” each older child make cookies so that now we have two different kinds. And we had a Whole Family Clean-Up, which was only about 10 minutes but made the house look better. I wasn’t sure the time would ever pass but it did!
Victory!!! Congrats on surviving!
I’ve run into the same dilemma — open the washer two days later only to find the previous load sitting inside.
Vinegar will remove the musty smell. Just run the load again but use vinegar in the rinse cycle.
Had no good suggestions but came back to see if you survived – and you did! Hooray for Swistle!
Hate days like that.
And now you’ve just reminded me that I have a wet load in the washer, just sitting there. Blah.