The anatomy of a stressful day on Planet Baby

Ouch! Even thinking hurts!

Oh, my! Today has been *one of those days*. You know, the type that is intense and seemingly never-ending? I am crawling to the finish line, sweet Planetarians. It’s the type of day when I haven’t had time to read your comments on my last post, reply to your emails, read the 237 posts awaiting me in Google Reader, let alone breathe! Hmm, that third glass of riesling is going down nicely…Here’s how today rolled (just in case you thought you had a *shocker* today, reading this might make you feel better!).

7.30 am – Awoken from my dead sleep by Mr PB opening the curtains (that’s what my medication does for me – I need to be woken).

7.45-8.55 am – Managed to have a shower without someone bursting in on me (rare); refereed a dispute between the older pixies about something inconsequential (whilst wet hair-wrapped-in-a-turban-styled-towel); found Sam another Weetbix to eat (end result: Weetbix crumbs throughout the house); asked the older pixies to get dressed maybe 30 times (they were distracted by ‘Giggle and Hoot’ and not listening); started to clean the pigsty of their bedroom that had miraculously appeared overnight; threw their soggy Pull-ups in the direction of the kitchen; changed Sam’s nappy amid howls of protest and dodging certain kicking motions; emptied the nappy bin (tying it up and throwing it towards the front door); dried my hair; found clothes for all 3 pixies and helped them get dressed; checked that Joshua had read his ‘reader’, written his review in the accompanying book and packed it in his bag, together with his lunchbox and drink bottle (that had to be refilled); rang up Joshua’s new school and asked them to confirm his place to start the next term there; rang the new daycare to confirm that India and Sam have been granted places; rang their current daycare to give the required 14 days’ notice of their leaving; cleaned up the remainder of the pixies’ breakfast, strewn throughout the house; cleaned all 3 sets of teeth; ensured all beanies, scarves and shoes were on the relevant pixies; swiftly downed my breakfast and medication; picked up my handbag, Sam, the nappy bag and my keys whilst managing to also steer the older pixies out the door and turn the deadlock before slamming the door behind us.

8.55-9.00 am - Wrangled the pixies into their car seats (Sam had his customary I-will-scream-and-arch-my-back-so-you-can’t do-up-my-seatbelt tantrum).

A photo taken on another day (definitely not today!)

9.00-9.05 am – Drove Joshie to school whilst listening to a Playschool CD (and heard ‘Baby Beluga’ for the millionth time) and had to change the song constantly to meet the approval of all-three-of- them-at-the-same-time.

9.05-9.07 am – Extricated Joshie out of the car (after the customary two kisses for each sibling and me) and off to his classroom (they’re used to his arriving late).

9.07-10.45 am – Drove into ‘town’ to load up Sam into the pram; handed over all the signed-by-Mr PB-and-me-and witnessed-by-a-neighbour loan documents to our local bank manager to fax to the Sydney office; while he was doing that, bought Sam a winter coat in Esprit (complete with *full-on* tantrum); collected my altered clothes from the drycleaner; bought Sam some skivvies and leggings in Target; fed the meter; bought some gel pens, ink pads and butterfly stamps in Artery; and collected the just-faxed loan documents from the bank.   

10.45- 11.00 am Found a sneaky parking spot near our local post office; stood in a long queue, eyes fixed on Quicksilver Sam who appeared ready to make a quick escape out the sliding doors; bought an Express Post envelope to send the loan documents to Sydney; and put Sam down to lift India up to place the loan documents into the Express Post letter box.

11.00 am-1 pm – Cleaned up the pigsty of a house which had been pristine only the night before; put the used Pull-ups in the rubbish bin; loaded up the dishwasher and the washing machine; sorted out yesterday’s dried laundry and hung it up in the respective pixies’ wardrobes; hung out the washing; made a jam sandwich for India’s lunch; watched Sam feed himself and spill it all over his top (“Me do!”); took off his dirty clothes amid howls of protestation; and tucked Sam into his sleeping bag with his bottle, ready for his sleep.

1-1.05 pm: Remembered to take my medication and eat some lunch; attempted to send an email to daycare confirming the date of India and Sam’s departure; and was interrupted by India who wanted to do some ‘crafting’.

1.05-1.15 pm: Attempted to ignore India’s resulting tantrum involving kicking of the bed end which meant the bed head kept crashing into the wall; pulled the bed 1 cm away from the wall whilst attempting to ignore her tantrum; completed sending my 3 line email to daycare; and then gathered her smock, paints, brushes, paper and a glass of water to set her up for some painting.

1.15-1.35 pm: Managed to reply to a few emails and read some posts in Google Reader.

1.35-1.45 pm: Cleaned up the mess caused by India knocking the water all over her painting; threw said painting into the bin; grabbed some more brown kraft paper to use up the leftover paint, creating a little beauty of a painting; washed the used brushes and palette; threw India’s smock into the wash; and scrubbed her painted hands clean.

1.45-1.55 pm: Read some more posts; and pretended not to hear Sam screaming that he was awake.

1.55-2 pm: Changed Sam’s nappy (amid more screams of protestation).

2-2.15 pm:  Let India and Sam watch a ‘Trotro’ DVD whilst I spoke to the managing agent of our rental property and offered to help subsidise any prospective renter’s rent, should no one lease the house after this Saturday’s inspection.

2.15-2.20 pm: Wrangled the pixies into their car seats (again, Sam had his customary tantrum).

2.20-2.25 pm: Drove India and Sam to my parents’ house whilst listening to aforesaid Playschool CD.

2.25-2.45 pm: ‘Looked after’ my dozy Dad whilst Mum attended a friend’s funeral.

2.45-2.55 pm: Woke Dad to tell him I was about to walk the children down the street to collect Joshie from school; watched Dad drift back to sleep in his recliner chair; packed Sam into the pram; and scooted downhill, across the muddy oval to collect Joshua.

 2.55-3.20 pm: Waited for, and collected, Joshua; and all 3 of us pushed Sam-in-a-pram back up the hill. The pixies opened the door (Pa was asleep) and let themselves in.

3.20-3.30 pm: Received a phonecall on my mobile from our Sydney bank manager advising that there had been a “technical glitch” and more documents needed to be collected from the city branch, signed by Mr PB and me (and witnessed by someone, to boot), faxed to the Sydney office and then sent by Express Post back to Sydney by 6 pm; noticed a family friend (my angel of mercy!) ambling up the path; and then after hastily explaining my predicament to her, rounded up the pixies and bundled them into the car, leaving her to look after Dad for 30 minutes.

3.30-3.40 pm – Hurtled towards the city, managing to find every red light along the way; found a sneaky park (in a ‘Do not park – 24 hour tow away zone’ spot); rang Mr PB and told him to race home; assured the pixies I would be “back in 5 minutes”; locked them into the car; and dashed over to the bank.

3.40-4.05 pm: Discovered the documents hadn’t arrived from Sydney; fretted about the pixies back in the car; asked if I could return to them to assure them everything was okay; was told “It’ll only take another 5 minutes”; waited another 15 minutes; rang my Sydney bank manager to confirm I had all the documents; and fled back to the car.

4.05-4.10 pm: Was met by the sight of both Joshua and India crying as they desperately needed to go to the toilet; saw Sam was crying in sympathy; and found them a toilet.

4.10-4.20 pm: Scooted home to take the washing off the line; collect water bottles, Cruskits and muesli bars for afternoon tea; tried to ring my Mum on 2 phone numbers to see if Dad was okay but only reached voicemail and hung up; raced to the post office; locked the pixies in the car; and hotfooted it to to buy an Express Post bag.

4.20-5.15 pm: Met Mr PB at home; set the pixies up with ABC Kids on the telly; signed some of the loan documents with Mr PB; asked a neighbour to come over to witness our signing the rest; panicked when we heard that she couldn’t come for 20 minutes; ran over the road to another neighbour to ask for her help; raced back with her to the house; rang the other neighbour and told her she didn’t need to come; and signed the documents as our neighbour witnessed us.

5.15-5.30 pm: India and I zoomed to my parents’ house to use their fax machine as ours was broken; discovered my Mum didn’t know how to use her new fax machine; and rang Dad’s old workplace to ask if we could use their fax machine in the city instead.

5.30-5.45 pm: Encountered every red light along the way; was let into the building by Dad’s old partner; faxed the documents to my Sydney bank manager; rang him to ensure he had received them; and hopped into the car.

5.45-5.55 pm: Zoomed to the GPO; miraculously found a parking spot; and raced to the GPO.

5.55 pm: Shoved the Express Post envelope into the Express Post box. With 5 minutes to spare! Grabbed India and hugged her. Sent an SMS to our bank manager confirming the deed had been done.

A (very grainy) photo of the GPO taken on my phone afterwards

5.55-6.05 pm: Drove home with a huge headache; and bought bottle of riesling.

Time now: 11.00 pm. Brain *partially decompressed*. Thanks for reading this – I hope it doesn’t give you nightmares!