What do you do all day?

I recently came across an interesting book in which moms from across the U.S. kept a diary of a day in their lives. There were full-time working moms, stay-at-home moms, moms in rural and urban areas, single moms, etc. I haven't had a chance to read the whole thing but it's interesting reading. It seems that across the board, we're stretching ourselves thin, beating ourselves up, and in alot of cases almost burning out trying to do everything that today's mom wants or is expected to do. But overall the moms in the book are still happy at the end of their long days, and I find that to be true for myself as well. So yesterday I kept a diary of my day to see just what it is that leaves me so worn out by bedtime. Here goes:

• 5:30am - woken up by puppy needing to be fed (I'm "fostering" a 3-week old patient of mine whose mom died delivering her pups. There are bottle feedings every few hours).

• 5:40am - Made lunch, got J's backpack ready for daycare, put puppy's soiled bedding the washing machine, took puppy out to start training her to potty outside.

• 6:00am - Took turns with TH to shower, get dressed.

• 6:30am - TH got J up and got him dressed while I did my hair/makeup. Started coffee, ran around looking for cell phone charger as cell phone was dead (under the couch - hmm wonder how that got there). Scrambled to get trash and recycling together for TH to put on the curb including contents of litter box I forgot to clean the night before.
  

• 7:14am - Left to take J to daycare and go to work. 9 minutes late. Still don't have the new commute down since moving. Gotta work on that.
  

• 7:39am - Dropped J off at daycare. Cleaned up crushed fruity Cheerios from backseat.
  

• 8:02am- Pulled into work 2 minutes late. Oh well. First appointment already waiting. 2 more appointments being checked in as I came in the door, as I ran back to my office I could see one animal actively bleeding in the lobby. Shit.
  

• 8:03 am - Accosted by kennel technician letting me know one of our boarding animals passed away in the night and I need to call the owners (who are out of town) ASAP to talk to them. Called owners, spent 10 minutes on phone with grief-stricken lady.
  

• 8:15am - Finally made it into first appointment. All exam rooms now full of waiting people. (I was the only doctor seeing appt's in the morning).
  

• 10:30am - 7th appointment of the day. First euthanasia of the day. Lady acting really strange, doesn't want us to cremate her pet, would rather have me wrap it up in a fancy pillowcase she brought so she can take it home. Ok, whatever works for you. Bitten by cat as it took its last breath, luckily didn't break the skin.
  

• 10:50am - ran next door to 7-Eleven to get coffee. Still haven't had breakfast besides a banana in the car and my coffee this morning on the way to daycare. No break in sight. Contemplated getting a bag of Doritos but remembered that I brought carrot sticks in my lunch bag. Diet disaster averted.
  

• 11:30am - appointment with lady who brought ALL 5 OF HER CHILDREN with her. Dog having severely foul bloody diarrhea. Walked into exam room where kids were pulling pictures off the wall and trying to make each other eat dog biscuits, dog looking half-dead in the corner, lady shoves a stinking ziploc with a "stool sample" in it at me before I can even introduce myself.
  

• 12:30pm - finished last appointment of the morning, had until 2pm to do two procedures. Hopes of sitting down for lunch and returning phone calls quickly dwindling.
  

• 1:24pm - Scarfed down lunch while second procedure was being prepped. Returned a couple of phone calls. No time to write up charts. Checked online to track my new camera. Delivery on Friday! Yayyyy!!
  

• 2pm - Second euthanasia of the day. Very sad. Techs are calling me "Dr. Death" today. Not funny.
  

• 5:24pm - Left work, went to pick up J. Not bad, I'll be there by 5:45 which is my personal goal each day - I hate for him to be the last kid picked up. On the way home to entertain J I taught him the song "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" and was surprised at how many animal sounds he knows.
  

• 6:23pm - Finally home. This new commute sucks.
  

• 6:24pm - Let J and TH loose in the backyard while I started dinner--salmon, red potatoes, and salad. And a chicken breast on the Foreman Grill for when J refuses the salmon. Played with J while dinner was cooking.
  

• 7:57pm - J in bed. Spent a few minutes checking email, jacked around on the internet, tracked the new camera again just in case (still coming Friday woo-hoo!).
  

• 8:48pm - On the way to the gym, rocked out to a song I never heard before. Immediately embarassed (and glad I was alone) when the announcer said it was a song by Miley Cyrus.
  

• 9pm - Body Pump class at the gym. Upped my weight today, legs will be sore tomorrow but my arms and shoulders are getting ripped, yeah!
  

• 10:23pm - Back home from the gym. Decided to take my shower at night to save time in the morning. Tried to be proactive and get lunch and daycare backpack together beforehand. TH already asleep.
  

• 11:36pm - Fed the puppy one last time and took her outside. Smart girl - she actually went in the dirt like she's supposed to. Went to bed, set clock for 5:30am.

Wow, reading it over it seems like a full day, and I didn't even write down alot of things. I challenge you to try it - you may be surprised at how much you're really cramming into your day, especially if you're a mom! (And I only have one kid, LOL).