This morning (just like yesterday morning), I did not want to get out of bed. I showered, got ready & snuggled back down for a minute…. I could have stayed there all day. I had slept just fine. In fact, both the past couple of nights, I got a solid 6-7 hours of sleep, and that is pretty darn good! And yet, I am just too tired to “adult” any more this week.
Why I am tired isn’t a great mystery. I have been running around the past few weeks like a chicken with my head cut off! People ask me how I get it all done, and why I push myself so hard. The short answers are: I don’t get it all done (especially not alone), and I push myself because I can!
We have had a lot going on… I’m not talking about the job I am paid to do (which is busy and wonderful). I am talking about all the volunteer stuff, kid stuff, life stuff. I love being such an active part in my kids lives and activities. I have already told you about my village that helps to get it all done in an earlier post called I Love My Tribe . Seriously, I would have had to cut way back on my volunteerism without them – or I would die trying to do it all…. Either way, thank goodness they are here and have my back.
Here is a snapshot of the past couple of weeks for me….
First – I ATTEMPT to keep things organized. I tote around this big ol’ planner, where I write everything down – color coded based on what or who the activity is for. I also meal plan and try to keep the week organized based on what I think is going on that week. Sometimes the plan is just that, a plan – we go with the flow for the most part….
School Stuff – I have been a part of the leadership for Ladd Lane Parent Club for a long time. Now, I only have twins, and they are in their last year at this beloved school – but I have been volunteering since the year they were born. My sister is a single mom, and I was by her side, helping in Parent Club for 5 years before my kids started going there! This is my tenth and “final” year volunteering with these amazing folks. I have a few projects and events I am heading up – and help when and where I can with it all! There is no slacking off for our final year – we will go out with a BANG!
Last week I finalized plans for our Mother/Son Halloween Dance, put together 700 copies of a See’s Candy fundraiser packet to send home with every student, put together a concise list of instructions for the See’s fundraiser – since I won’t be there next year, posted several social media reminders about school events, created tickets for the Mother/Son dance, purchased bags for the dance/dinner pre-sales, distributed the 700 copies to teacher boxes, counted the dance pre-sales to get our food order placed, and purchased costumes for the dance…. whew!
This week just finalizing the dance plans… Our Mummys & Monsters Dance is going to be a blast! I will be decorating on Friday and ready to enjoy my last dance with my kiddos at that school. The boys (not just mine, but most of the male students), have been complaining for years that the girls’ dance is bigger & better – and it has been… we always try to cram these in after the holidays, the middle of baseball season. My friend and fellow boy mom has been working with me this year to make our last boys’ dance the best one they have had! We are leaving a legacy behind for those who follow…
Baseball – So you know…. we just started our own Travel Baseball team with a few other families. It is so much fun! We have just finished our second tournament, and we have such an amazing group of families! I never do things half-way. There is the potential (hope) that we will have this travel ball team for years and years to come. So that means I have been filing for tax id, preparing to file for tax exempt status, chasing sponsors, setting up fundraisers, setting up the bank account – creating an “executive board”, articles of association, a roster of parent “booster” members…. A lot of stuff. But, once it is done, and we get through the initial craziness, it will be smooth sailing! This past week, I have been wrapping up organizing our first fundraiser! I have been chasing donations for a raffle, selling dinner tickets for/with my kiddo, chasing families for their money/tickets to be turned in, finalizing our banking, paying for our event in advance & gathering orders for sweatshirts and hats for our families to rock! That event is tomorrow, and I am looking forward to it!
Don’t forget we also have Soccer, Art Class, Scouts, Advanced Band…. so many kids activities and so little time. Thankfully (sometimes regrettably), they don’t have the need for volunteers to help run things, but I do what I can when I can. Sometimes we struggle just to be everywhere we need to be, when we need to be there!
And… last week Jerritt was out of town for work from Thursday through Sunday night. That threw a wrench into our well-oiled machine! While it did mean I didn’t not have to feed anyone for a couple nights, it meant that I had to figure out how to be everywhere for everyone – baseball in Santa Cruz on Saturday, soccer in Hollister Sunday morning, and then baseball again on Sunday….
My weekend kind of went like this…. I packed lunch for the kids and I and went to Santa Cruz on Saturday for 2 baseball games. Get a call from Jerritt that he lost his ID and credit card in New Orleans. Home at a decent time, made dinner for the kids and had to wash uniforms & send Jerritt pictures of the ID stuff we had at the house. Of course – Nate had a dirty uniform from 2 weeks prior (he forgot to wash at his dads)… It needed to soak, but we didn’t have time for that. I went to wash Kevin’s soccer uniform – only to find he left it at his dads house. After dinner, I decided to make up a big batch of my famous pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for the team and families on Sunday. I let Rich know he had a dirty soccer uniform that needed his attention, and finally crashed out! Up early Sunday – feed kids, pack lunches again, load up the car and go. First to Rich’s house to drop off Nate (in his sorta clean uniform), and have Kevin change into his soccer uniform. Off to soccer – which started 15 minutes late because the refs were not on time… I gave Jerritt a play by play of the game, because the coach hates missing a game! Finish the soccer game and hop in the car to Santa Cruz. Wouldn’t you know, they started early (of course), so we missed the first couple of innings…. but we made it! Both baseball games this weekend were intense (like the most stressful I have ever been to) – but we squeaked by a win with both and got first place (after losing 2 on Saturday)!
The only thing that allowed me to keep my sanity this weekend, was the glass of wine with good friends/team families when we got back to town on Sunday – without that, I am sure I would have taken a little longer to unwind! That, and knowing that Jerritt’s flights had landed safely, and he was coming home.
Right now it is hard for me to imagine weekends without all the running around. And evenings where one organization or another doesn’t need some of my time…. For now I will just give it all I got and try to not stress about the small stuff!
#CrazyAsAMother #VeryBusy #LoveMyTribe #CaffeineIsMyFavorite #IMayHaveBribedTheTeamWithAPromiseOfMoreCookies #LoudAndProud #MoreWinePlease
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