What have you DONE all day?

I try very hard to keep on top of housework and mundane stuff, but there are days where I just don't manage it. Today was a good example. The breakfast dishes are still on the bench and I only just emptied the dishwasher at 4pm thanks to Kaitereo deciding she was going to make a start on it, so I had to help in order to minimise losses.

Today was a grocery shopping day, this is an epic undertaking in our household, as we go shopping once a fortnight at a town 40 minutes away, and I go around all the cheap bargain stores to stretch our budget that little bit further. So, today we got up at 7am and rushed about having breakfast and getting dressed, making lunches that I failed to make the night before (silly Mummy). After feeding Hakopa we piled into the car for the 20 minute trip to drop Mapera at Kindy.

I fed Hakopa his solid breakfast at kindy and then Kaitereo, Hakopa and I were back in the car and off to Hamilton. First stop was bargain-hunters paradise The Warehouse for household stuff, then off to Pak n Save for the main grocery shop. Finally off to the butchers for cheap meat.

In amongst these stops I also fed the kids morning tea and lunch, got myself lunch and sat through a 20 minute tantrum by Kaitereo who had refused to use the only toilet available, despite doing the wee-wee dance all around the shop. I ended up telling her that she had to go to the toilet, or wear a pull-up in the car, or she would fall asleep and wee on the seat (which is exactly what happened the last time she refused to go when we found a toilet).

We then drove back to Kindy, fed Hakopa his post-lunch snack dealt with another 20 minute tantrum and collected Mapera.

At home I unpacked the shopping, fed the kids afternoon tea and sat down for a coffee and a quick peek at the computer.

It's now 10 to 5 and we're having fish fingers for dinner.

People wonder how I find time for everything I do, and the honest answer is that I don't. Sometimes the dishes don't get done, and the house is a mess and the dinner is fish fingers and frozen peas. BUT my kids are fed and happy and playing together, I am sane (relatively speaking) and I know I will catch up with things on another day. I don't beat myself up about it any more and I find life a lot less overwhelming when I put my kids first and forget the rest.