Schedules and Unicorns

School finally started, aka work. Without my central job, school seemed like it would be easier, but in reality my central job is filled with kids and teaching is still hard to keep up with. Don't get me wrong, I love teaching. Despite the fact most Americans seem to think teachers are lazy assholes and want to pay us as little as possible to work like 50 hours or more a week, I really love teaching. I am good at my subject and I enjoy it. All teaching requires is passing on the love for a subject that I already have. None-the-less the schedule part of my life is hectic.

A friend today said the schedule is something we are always chasing like the lottery or a unicorn, but maybe getting on a regular schedule just doesn't really exist. Hmmm. That hadn't occurred to me before. I thought once we adjusted to school starting the family could get into a routine, but 2 weeks in we couldn't be further off anything resembling a routine.

I know this much:
1. I have got to get Cletus back on a meaningful pre-school routine. He needs to learn and he likes it. I don't want him to get behind because I can't balance my new life.
2. DC needs more tummy time. Period. She hates it, but she needs it. 
3. I need to get better at prepping my classes. This is part of the reason things still aren't balanced yet.
4. I HATE CHORES. I HATE DOING THE DISHES AND LAUNDRY AND KEEPING UP WITH THE HOUSE. I ALSO HATE THE EXPECTATION THAT I DO SO.
5. I need to learn to juggle: DC's needs, Cletus' needs, school needs, house needs, personal time needs, & spouse needs.

I am still hoping that routines aren't unicorns. Week 3. This is the beginning of our routine.

DC Life Lesson of the Day: Somethings Shouldn't Go Together

Just because you can do 2 things at once doesn't mean you should. For example, I like fish and I like ice cream, but I don't eat them at the same time. In this case, DC learned maybe one shouldn't try to poop and eat at the same time. The part where you push poop out with intense concentration is not so compatible with eating. I mean it's certainly possible to do both, but it mostly seemed frustrating for her. This is at least part of why adults don't take a snack with them to the toilet. (DC hygene lessons won't come until much later.) Oh the things you think about at 6:30 in the morning when you are up for the 3rd time in the night with your infant...

Pooped on at 6:35 am

The Baby Poop Face

Whenever DC wakes up in the night, I change her while she is eating her baba. I do it that way so I can put her right back to sleep. The system works really well UNLESS she poops. When I open the diaper I always prep myself emotionally for this possibility that way I can be pleased it the diaper is poop free. Poopy diapers in the night or early morning especially suck cause I am too tired to deal with them. (In a cloth diaper house, you have to rinse out the diaper after changing - something I hate doing in the middle of night when I just want to go back to sleep.) EVEN WORSE, this morning DC was still pooping. Something I didn't notice until it was happening all over me and the couch! It's hard to see the poop face when you are exhausted. The poop face is every parent's warning system not to take the diaper off yet. Bottom line: It sucks to get pooped on at 6:35 in the morning.

Housework is My Boulder

I might not be anyone's maid, but I have to be at home all day. The result is the desire to be in a cleaner dwelling. Sun & Moon has always had a desire to clean things; Me - not so much. I mean why bother? It will just get messy again. The problem is with 2 kids at home it gets sooooo messy that no one would want to live here. And thus my list of daily chores...

Those of you unfamiliar with Greek Mythology (basically you aren't an uber nerd) might not know the story of Sisyphus. Sisyphus (Sissy - fuss) was a king punished by the Greek Gods for being a huge a-hole. His punishment was to roll a huge boulder up a steep hill, but right before it would reach the top the huge boulder would roll back down. And then Sisyphus would have to start all over again. Camus would later write a book about the Myth of Sisyphus and humans futile search for the meaning of life. Sisyphean tasks are basically endless, unavailing (arguably futile) labor.

Welcome to my everyday. I do 3 loads of laundry. The first one is always diapers. We are a cloth diaper house. Cletus uses 6-8 diapers a day and 1 night diaper. DC is using 8-10 diapers a day. If I don't wash diapers everyday we will run out half way through the next day. Also, there will be a huge pile of diapers. Then I do 2 loads of clothes or towels. I do them to prevent a mountain from appearing, but there again in the morning is another hill of laundry. I wash the dishes. If I don't wash bottles DC won't have enough, so leaving them until the next day is simply not an option. Not matter how many dishes you wash, after dinner there's always more. And then there's general upkeep. Cletus throws his toys everywhere. On a positive note, he is learning to do chores and the 1st is picking up his own toys. There's floors to mop and vacuum. There's tubs & toilets to scrub (I really need to get to this soon). Home makers everywhere are now saying no shit and nodding there heads. This might be old news to you, but as the lazy husband like person around the house this list of tasks is blowing my mind.

It's Sisyphean I tell you. No matter how hard I push the boulder in the morning its at the bottom of the hill. Maddening.