Work All Day...Get Nothing Done...

Why is it, that I work all day at something, yet nothing seems to get done? I used to think I had the ability to "multi-task"...but that was pre-children...when all my brain cells were still intact. Since the kids have sucked the life out of me, I have the attention span of a fly...

Here is how a typical day of "cleaning" goes. I get the laundry going, walk out of the laundry room, see a toy that the youngest has left out...I take it up to her room to put it away and see that the bed is unmade. I start to make the bed, but I can't because she has too many stuffed animals on her bed. I put the stuffed animals in the animal bucket and look around the room, getting all the animals off the floor...books from the playroom are on her bed, so I take them to the playroom...I go to put the books on the shelf, but the bookshelves are a mess, with books on their side or in stacks. I sit down on the floor and start sorting the books, size, genre, age group...oh but there are three book cases, so now I must ponder how I will reorganize them...I see a comforter sitting on the back of the couch and think, "I should put that away"...which then reminds me...Oh yeah...the laundry! I run downstairs to the laundry, put the clothes in the dryer and run upstairs to get more clothes for the wash. I go into the bathroom to collect towels and see toothpaste in the sink...I need to clean that! Spray the sink with cleaner and reach under the sink for paper towels. Curses...none in here...go downstairs for paper towels and notice the dishwasher needs emptying...I start emptying the dishwasher..then the dog needs to go out.

 I let the dog out, turn around and see that I should sort the kids school papers. I start sifting through them, dog wants back in...let him in, see that I was emptying the dishwasher and return to that chore...oh wait...the laundry! Run into the laundry room, see the empty washer...oh yeah...the towels! Come out of the laundry room, see the kids' blankets on the couch. I should really fold those. Go to the couch and start folding the blankets. Oh look, the TV...I should watch the show I recorded last night...Sit down and watch show while folding blankets, a task that takes 3 minutes. Watch hour show...turn off TV. Go into kitchen, see the open dishwasher...oh yeah, I was doing the dishes...start back on the dishwasher...look at the clock...Omigosh! Time to pick the kids up from school!! Worked all day...didn't finish a single task! "SQUIRREL!"

It's sad but true...and the eldest child is the same way...He starts one task...gets sidetracked...forgets what he is doing...I have to remind him every day to bring his spelling book home...and every day he forgets it... I have resorted to putting notes in his lunchbox..."SPELLING BOOK!" It's a toss-up whether it will work or not.  He leaves his band music home at least once a week, which means I have to rush home after drop off...tear the house apart, looking for his music and then tear across town, to get back to the school before band starts.

The middle son loses his jacket every week. He comes home without his jacket on Monday. On Tuesday, I send him to school with another jacket. By Wednesday, he has lost both jackets. Thursday, the first jacket turns up. I spend Friday morning at the school, digging through the lost and found bucket. I never find it in the bucket... But the jacket is usually back in our home within the week. He just doesn't pay attention. One day, he brought home a really nice red ski jacket. It was so warm and new! It just wasn't OUR really nice red ski jacket! I was mortified! Our son STOLE someone's jacket! He took it back the next day and traded it for his...so I am pretty sure his jacket goes home with some kid, only to be found by a mortified mother and sent back the next day.

The little one never remembers her library book. She leaves it in her desk and is so upset when she forgets to bring it home. She has it home for one day and then it is lost. The last library book was lost for two weeks. On library day, I came home from dropping her off and tore her room apart. Where could it be? Neither one of us could remember the name of the book...I just knew it had a green cover...or was it blue? How can she lose a book? One look at her room answers that! It's a disaster. I look under the bed, through her bookshelf, in the closet, under the covers, on top of the covers, under her pillow, in her stuffed animal bucket...nothing. I search her brothers' rooms, the playroom, I even look in the bathroom. Nothing. Then I go and pick her up from school and she shows me the new book she checked out of the library. "How did you get a book? You lost yours!" I ask. "Oh, someone must have turned it in for me...it was at school the whole time!" ARGH!! No wonder I don't get anything done!