Friday, February 15, 2008

A Rhetorical and Whine-filled question

Okay, I've got a question for y'all. One of you stays home, or has an "alternate work schedule", the other pulls the old 9 - 5 8 - 6 shift, which is still sort of flexible here in the valley. Who gets up and gets the kids ready for school?

The person who, well, has to get up anyway? Or the one who doesn't have to be somewhere at a certain time? Or in my case, the one who is physically able to pull her a%# out of bed at the ungodly hour of 5am when someone, no naming names, starts whining about some random thing at 5am, and never got back to sleep? Actually, in my house I do get help if I specifically ask, but whether or not I take the kids to school, I pretty much also get up and get them, and myself, ready, while hubby sleeps. In fact if he's taking the kids, I work extra hard to make sure they are ready, although that's partly because I can finish getting myself ready after he's gone. And if I'm responsible for getting the kid there by that ungodly hour of 8:10am, I end up a mad-hatter, rushing around and yelling get your shoes on for the upteenth time, all while he snoozes peacefully with a pillow over his head to block out the sound.

On TV the mom gets up, makes pancakes, gets everyone off to their respective places (okay, drives them in the land of no buses) and, I presume, hits the sack after everyone's gone, am I right? Well, after she cleans up, does a little laundry, bakes cookies for the next day's elementary school celebration-of-the-month, pays some bills and, stuffs envelops for the PTA or something. Then she can relax, right?


I know, we don't live in TV land, and I'm running on very little sleep, but let me in on this detail of your lives, K?

4 comments:

  1. I'm a SAHM to three 3 mos - 3.5 and my husband gets up with all three if it's after 5am and I sleep til at least 730 (unless the baby needs to eat). Works for me. I tell him it payback for the newborn days x 3.

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  2. For many years my husband handled morning detail and I handled the after-school end. Now that one is in college and our disabled one is in high school, I get up early, send the teen on the bus, and then head off to work. Husband handles mornings when I can't and take days off when the afternoon bit comes up and I can't be there.

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  3. I have always been the one to get up, get them ready, get everyone out the door etc. However, I am also the work at home mom who gets the PTA stuff finished, the dishes washed, the laundry started and mini-work done before I crawl back into bed (on days I can).

    My husband only helps if I am (a)away, (b) vomiting or (c) have a fever over 103 degrees. ;-)

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  4. We're new parents (to an 8 month old boy), so we're still finding our way. We live a half hour from anywhere, and generally need to be at work by 8:30 or 9 - so I'm up with the boy at 6, nurse him and then leave him in bed with his dad while I shower. I play with him while his dad showers and takes the dog out, and then hopefully we're out the door by 8 or 8:15. It works most days, but sometimes it really is rough.

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