The odd thing about this time through the first trimester (10 weeks today by conventional counting):
You know, not that many weeks ago I was a fairly effective person. I rarely accomplished every task I had on my mental to-do list each morning, but I tended to hit Minimum-Plus with some regularity. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were all made and eaten. Schoolwork was done. I ran the dishwasher at least once. I answered email and wrote a blog post or two. Some house-tidying and/or laundry happened. I nursed my daughter a few times and got the next day's school more or less ready. If it was an exercise day, I got my workout; if a kid had a lesson, he got to it. I had time for a beer or at least a cup of tea with my husband at the end of the day. Usually a few things got left off the list, but I think my family and friends would agree that I got around to the really important things, and carved a bit off the optional things, every day.
Now I'm scratching my head. How did I do that? Because from where I'm sitting (or sometimes lying with my feet up) I really don't see how the math all works out. How many hours are there in a day again? What time did I get up in the morning? How many cups of coffee did I drink? How long of a break did I take? When did all these things happen?
Even if I subtract off the daily nap I am needing every day, it just doesn't seem possible that I could have done all that. I try and I don't even come close. I teach one child some math and I don't have time to read to the other. I get some laundry done, and dinner has to be peanut butter sandwiches. The only answer is that I am simply moving a lot SLOWER.
One of those things you just have to shrug off, I guess. It's the first trimester. It happens. On the housework end, Mark is cheerfully picking up the slack; on the schoolwork end, well, it's summer, and even though I theoretically school year round, I'm not going to sweat it if we have some days of building blocks and an excursion to the playground and, yes, a video or two so I can doze off for an hour. The one thing hanging ominously over my head is that I haven't finished my school planning for next year, and next year has to begin on August 18 (because of the block of time off in the middle of the year when the baby's born), so I'm quickly approaching the point at which it's impossible to get all the books I need from the library in time to figure out the reading schedule for American History.
That's why I am announcing that I expect to have all my energy back TWO WEEKS from today. Hear that, body? Get your naps now. The clock is ticking.
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