Less Busy Than Not Very Busy At All

Nothing.

That's what's on my calendar today.  No errands, no appointments, no plans for dinner. Just wide open...and I couldn't be happier. I have been down with strep throat for four days now, and I'm all about not having to go anywhere or do anything while this antibiotic kicks in.

Not that I've been super busy lately, don't get me wrong. I'm never super busy. In fact, last week the guy came to fix my window screens at 9:30 in the morning. I just happened to have run out to the store beforehand and had to call to let him know I'd be a minute or two late in meeting him. When I got here, he shook his head and said "Wow, you're a busy  person!"  As if I had just finished painting my house and doing all my Christmas shopping.  Yea, I'm exhausted. I went all the way down to Grocery Outlet before I even had coffee!

I don't mean to knock my job - the Stay Home Mom Gig. It's just that I never feel like I can't catch a break. There's nothing in my in-basket that will cause the stock market to crash if I don't get to it today. Sure, Jack might have to have a bagel instead of cereal if there's no milk, but he'll get over it. It's still white food.  If I don't work today, millions of sea creatures will not perish from spilled oil. Crimes will not go unsolved.

I'm pretty sure though, over time, this little corner of the world would fall apart. (Ok, maybe not under the direction of my husband, but under normal circumstances.) Like the fact that there's a weird phenomenon in my boys' bathroom. Not the normal stuff, like molding socks. Lately, I've noticed that the bottles of shampoo and body wash and god knows what else are multiplying. On their own. I haven't bought anything recently, but there are like ten new bottles of half-full product all over the place. Are they stealing them from their friends? What the hell?

And dishes. If I say "Ok, one of you has to unload the dishwasher, the other one has to clean the cat box", they trample each other racing for the litter box. Really? Maybe it's just me, but putting away warm, clean, pretty dishware is more desirable than kneeling on the dirty laundry-room floor with a bacteria-infested scoop, shoveling cat shit.  Just sayin.

Other than that, I'm not all that busy. I'm not preventing toddlers from inserting forks into electrical outlets all day, or cleaning up after Woops-I shouldn't-have-fed-the-baby-that. I'm not planning my every move around crucial nap time or trying to get my own nap in after spending the night with two small children wedged between me, the cat and the husband.

Especially in summer, anymore, there's very little care of children involved, other than basic life-or-death supervision. On occasion, I make lunch. Mostly, they feed themselves (freeze pops, Go-Gurt, cheese sticks) or maybe I have to drive one of them somewhere.  I have to make sure there's food in the fridge. Toilet paper available, gas in the car, that sort of thing. Laundry and vacuuming and all that, of course. But really, this is a pretty rockin' job.

Still, I love NOTHING days.