Free Time

I've been looking forward to this year for 5 years.  Well, maybe "looking forward" isn't quite accurate. Technically, I didn't think I would ever get to it.  I didn't think we'd survive five years with five kids!

So what am I talking about?  Kindergarten, of course! 

That's right.  The triplets are in Kindergarten.  Not just Kindergarten...FULL DAY Kindergarten. Yup...8:10-2:50 every day. And yes, they've been there since September and I'm just getting around to blogging about it. Which brings me to the actual point of this post: What on earth have I been doing every day?

I get that question a lot now. It's not always in the form of a question.  Sometimes it's more of an accusation..."Wow!  You must love all that 'Free Time'!" Honestly, I doubt that most people mean it as an accusation, but that's how I take it, because, well, I'm me and I take things personally.  I am also my own worst critic and think I should be doing SOMETHING with all the "extra" time in my life.

Of course, that would mean that I'd have to FIND this alleged free time.  I'm not sure where it is.

I had all these visions of my life once all 5 kids were in school all day.  The picture looked amazing: I was super fit, the house was immaculate, my patience was abundant during homework time, dinner was always prepared on time (since it was started during the school day), the laundry was always caught up, I blogged daily, and I worked on my scrapbooks at least once a week.

Then there's reality.

None of these things have happened.

None.

Why not?  What, on earth, am I doing with myself?

Well, I think I've finally got a handle on things.  There IS some extra time in the day.  But guess what?  You don't find it until January, people.  In September, you're frantically trying to get used to the schedule, get supplies, deal with over-tired and over-emotional kids, and you're attempting to grab the last moments of summer.  In October, you're about to get in a groove but then homework, and Halloween hit. In November, you're kicking into Holiday gear...Thanksgiving...Christmas...both home and at school...for five kids.  FIVE!  In December, you're in full on panic mode...baking, wrapping, shopping, budgeting, hiding elves, and dealing with sugared up, hyper kids.

Then January comes. 

And you sit.

And rest.

And it feels good.

And you don't ever want to get up.

So I spent the first few weeks of January in full out veg mode.  I was lazier than lazy.  And it was wonderful.  But now I'm human again. I'm working out regularly.  I have somewhat of a schedule for cleaning the house and doing laundry. The crockpot is getting a workout.  And here I am...blogging.  I'm finding it, people...I'm finding the time!!!