It is 4:30, and I am currently huddled in the corner of the couch, fingers tapping away at the keys while the stillness of the early hour wraps around me like a blanket.
For the record, I don’t like being up this early, and I didn’t want to be up this early. But I have four children and a traveling husband, and sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures.
Today will be another full day. We have to finish our weekly homeschool work, there are twelve loads of laundry staring me in the face (dirty clothes can be quite belligerent), after school activities await, and we will even be caring for the five-week old foster son of a friend today while she runs an errand.
In other words, there’s no time to waste. Today is roaring toward me like a freight train, and I needed to get ahead of it before it slammed into me.
Chances are I’ll get tired around 3:00 this afternoon. That’s why we have a television – so the little ones can be mindlessly entertained while mom gets a power nap.
Can I get an amen on that?
When people find out I have four children (with a fifth on the way via adoption), they often shake their heads and say something to the effect of “I don’t know how you do it.”
And my quick, simple, and very honest answer is “I don’t know either. I just do!”
And here’s a little secret – I bet you do, too.
All of us, whether we have one child or twelve, whether we stay home or work outside the home, whether we have lots of help around the house or no help at all – we all are doing hard work every single day. Because life is hard and it’s full.
Sometimes, the only way I can do all the things I need to do is to wake up extra early, dig in my heels, and get work out of the way before anyone else is awake.
Sometimes, I need to hire a babysitter and get out of the house to work.
Sometimes, work has to be put aside so I can focus on the needs of the small people in my house.
Sometimes, the small people have to wait while I get stuff done that doesn’t involve them.
Sometimes the laundry piles up, and other times I stay on top of it.
Sometimes I cook good meals, and other nights we eat take out.
There is a loose method to my madness most days, but some days I simply fly by the seat of my pants.
And through all this, I manage to get things done. I don’t know how I do it – I just do.
You are just as busy as I am, I’m sure of it. You may be waking up extra early as well, or perhaps you like the nighttime hours more. In either case, I bet you’re finding ways to fit all the things you need to do into the cracks of your days just like I do.
That’s what moms do! We figure it out, sometimes on purpose and sometimes by accident.
How do I do it all? How do you do it all?
I don’t know. We just do!
'How do you do it all? I have no good answer to this: I just do! And you probably do, too.'Click To TweetNow, if you’ll excuse me I am headed off to make the largest cup of coffee known to man. Because I don’t “just do” anything without being well caffeinated.
*wink*
It is hard when you just have to do it, isn’t it? When you would rather be doing something else (ie sleeping) but you have to be up and around otherwise no one would be and nothing would get done.
Good luck to you with all the children and the one on the way. Running a household is hard and needs regular attention or things become a disaster. It takes at least one adult to run a house.
“I just do” is always the answer that I give. it’s because I don’t have a better one. I don’t know how I do it. Most days, I just fly by the seat of my pants on a wing and a prayer.
I have no choice is the answer I give because the truth is, we don’t have a choice. Things have to get done, ya know?
Yes to all of those. There are days I have it all together, and days I don’t Days when I feel like I deserve a medal, and days when I am throwing my hands in the air. But parents get it done.
I try not to think about it – I just do it. Luckily I have one child and my husband only travels 4 months out of the year and the other months he’s home and does a lot.
What a beautiful post, I totally get it! I ask myself this question all the time. We always seem to get it done!
Yep, us woman are amazing like that. We just do it. Some days are harder than others, but when push comes to shove, we know how to kick it into gear and smash those goals.
I find my days all roll into one more often than not. With 8 kids 14 and under, just doing is all I know and I wouldn’t change it for anything
Love your post! There are good days and bad days! What I always have in mind is that I’m always trying my best!
Ah, motherhood. The toughest, most challenging, thankless job in the world. There are times I would really want to give up but I can’t bring myself to it. It is in our nature to do these things. I read a meme a few weeks back and it says, Someone once told me, I don’t know how you do it. My response was “I wasn’t given a choice.” So true. There are no options when it comes to motherhood.
I couldn’t agree more! I love this post! Motherhood needs love, hard work and coffee!! 😉
Can’t agree with you more. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed with my job, my chores, raising a family and being a wife that I ask myself the same question. How do I manage to do it all? I guess motherhood makes you realize you have some kind of superpowers!