Set alarm for 6:30, shower, eat breakfast, catch a bus at 7:30 in order to be at work by 8:30. Sit in on meetings, listen to customers complain or bask in their praise, try to solve problems, have “smoke” breaks with my colleagues, eat a healthy lunch, leave work at 17:00 to get home sometime after 18:00 to cook/enjoy dinner, watch TV, catch up with hubby or read and then off to bed by 22:00 for my much needed 8 hours of sleep.
During my 2 hour commute to and from work I would listen to music, read, doze off or chat with hubby. In between bus rides I got to people-watch at a seriously busy International airport with the occasional Starbucks coffee run (especially in winter when the bus's where due to be delayed)
Weekends meant no alarm, sleeping late or afternoon naps. We could go to the movies or try new restaurants on the spur of the moment. Play squash, go for a cycle, enjoy winter beach walks or summer braai's with friends. Spontaneity was the name of the game.
Life post kids:
No alarms needed as one or both boys wake up round 6, whining for juice…during the week I give myself 30 minutes to shower and eat breakfast in relative peace and quiet. As the boys are busy eating and either watching TV, or playing on daddy’s game (which means watching Youtube video clips on the playbook). I pack their snack boxes and make sure their school bags are ready. Get them dressed and we're out the door at 7:10, drop Lucca and then Leo at school and get to work just after 8.
My time at work is pretty similar to before kids - except I know work in HR, but the 4 years I was a stay at home mom was something else. (a story for another day)
Home time varies but I'm usually rushing down the mountain to get Leo first and Lucca - either from Karate or School - except Tuesday's when they are with my mom. Once we're home we enter the haze of supper, homework, bath time, huggie monster or reading books and finally bedtime. By about 20:30 we have the house to ourselves.
Then the question is what do you do… watch TV, read a book, tidy up toys, pack the dishwasher, prep a load of laundry for tomorrow, bond with hubby, bath, sleep arghhhh the choices they are many… pity the amount of time is little as I still try to get to bed by 22:00. Not for my munch needed 8 hours of sleep (cause that no longer exists) but for my few, even more needed, hours of uninterrupted sleep before one or both boys make their way to our bed. From then on it’s a restless night’s sleep, till my alarm goes off at 5:45. (I lied, I still set an alarm, because with my luck the day I don’t my boys will sleep till 8.) At one time it ways always a surprise who wakes up where, we just loved playing musical beds at night. But luckily that has improved.
The last full, uninterrupted 8 hours of sleep I got must have been in January 2008.
Would I trade it all to go back – Never!
Then I'd miss out on the most adoring looks, sound of their laughter, their angelic smiles, and the feel of their warm bodies against mine as they sleep, the sheer excitement when they get something simple like juice or a chocolate or when we're going to play huggie monster.
I may have sacrificed some things but I've gained so much more.
