I wrote something to settle my mind down for sleep.

[ssmme]

A stay at home mom day…
6:30am Wake up, brush teeth, wash face, pull hair up in ponytail, throw on workout clothes, go into kitchen, start coffee, start breakfast for kids, flip on dryer to fluff up school uniforms for kids.
6:45am Kids’ alarms go off. Household stirs and morning begins. Run upstairs to make sure no one slept through the alarm. Sing a good morning song. Run back downstairs. Get the kids fed, uniforms on, backpacks packed, sign any permission slips, etc for school.
7:25am Grab purse and water bottle. Head to car, drive kids to school.
7:35 Head to the gym for a 45 minute workout.
9:00am Leave gym, run errands (grocery store, dry cleaners, post-office, prescription pickup, wal-marting, Samsclubbing).
10:30am Head home, unload car, put purchased stuff away.
11:00am Take a shower, get ready for the day, grab lunch, throw a load of laundry in the washing machine, clean up breakfast dishes, load the dishwasher, go to computer to pay bills, balance check-book, file any paperwork, get everything to be mailed addressed and stamped, make any needed phone calls, think about what to start for dinner.
2:30pm Leave home to drive up to school to pick up kids.
3:10pm Bring kids home to start homework, help them as needed, continue working on dinner, do more laundry.
5:00pm Take a kid or more to ice skating, rock band, tutoring, school functions.
7:00pm Back home for the evening!! Review kids homework, while dinner is finished cooking. Feed family, clean up dishes, get the kids to take showers. Final studying for next day quizzes and tests, make the kids read for 20 minutes.
10:00pm Kids go to bed, watch recording of the local news then the national news (ff through commercials to speed it up), wash face, brush teeth, lights out.
That’s an ideal stay at home mom’s day.





A stay at home mom with MS’s day…
6:30am Wake up, hope legs will work today, stumble to bathroom to pee clutching crotch to keep from leaking, pull on sweat pants, find closest pair of slip-on shoes, wall walk to kitchen, start coffee, start breakfast for kids, flip on dryer to fluff up school uniforms for kids.
6:45am Kids’ alarms go off. Household stirs and morning begins. Hope no one slept through the alarm because the extra energy needed to drag self upstairs is hard to muster. If one of them doesn’t come down ask one of the others to go back upstairs to wake them. Make breakfast for the kids like frozen pancakes heated in toaster oven to minimize having to stand for too long. Make a cup of coffee and sit down to conserve energy..
7:25am Ask one of kids to carry purse since it makes the abnormal gait even more imbalanced. Yay – I made to the car without falling in the process!!!
7:35 Think about stopping by the postoffice to check the PO box but is it really worth it today? Can it wait another day? This may make it too difficult for me to take a shower because I’ll be more exhausted by the time I get home. Screw it I’m going home.
7:45am Pull into garage, sit in car for a couple of minutes to psych self up to climb stairs from basement. Yay I made it upstairs!! I had to use the banister to help pull myself up but bygod I did it.
8:00am Look at breakfast mess but push it off till later – I’d rather have the energy saved for a shower. Make the second cup of coffee – but don’t fill it full because it will get spilled on the way to my computer desk. One hand holding coffee – the other hand on the wall for balance. Sloooooow!
8:15am Sit down at computer. Damn I’m exhausted. My fingers aren’t working. It’s like trying to type with oven mitts on. E-pay every bill that needs to be paid or schedule a payment for a future date, transfer money through online banking. Look at the bills still unopened in envelopes on computer desk. I want to open them but I need to see if there are any that need to be paid by check. Sheww – there’s only one. Open it up, find the amount, pull out the checkbook and pick up the pen. Damn – it’s like trying to write with fingers made of cooked spaghetti. I can’t get a firm grip on the pen. Okay – I’ll set it down, shake my hands, wait a couple of minutes. While waiting I’ll check e-mail. I only need my thumb to move the mouse with my trackball. Well my hands are just not happy for fine motor skill work today and I don’t want to think about it. I’m going to pull up an on-line video game like Bingo or Candycrush. It only needs clicking.
10:30am I’ve got to get in the shower but I was hoping the coffee would make my system work before I got in. Heave myself up. I know I need to “go” and I don’t want to worry about it all day. Okay…suppository time. Yay, it work! Now for the shower. Don’t stay in too long, don’t let the water be nice and steamy because the heat will make my body wilt even though it would feel so nice. I need to blow dry my hair…why does the blow dryer weigh 63 pounds?!? My right arm is having a hard time holding it up. If I lean back on the wall and bend forward at the waist maybe I can get my hair to dry without having to lift the dryer very high. Thank goodness it’s finally dry. Now I can try to get dressed. Jeans and a button down should look okay. Geez I can’t get my left leg to lift so I can get my underwear on – how the hell am I going to get my jeans on? Okay I’ll get on the bed and pull my leg up with my right hand and use my left hand to pull my underwear onto my left leg. Why does my underwear always snag on my finger-toes? Okay, I finally got my underwear on AND my jeans. Lucky me – my button down was mostly buttoned except for the top three buttons. I can slip it over my head and only have to button one or two buttons. Damn fingers please work. Okay, not yet maybe if I take a break they’ll start working again. I should have known it would be difficult – I couldn’t write earlier. Now I’ll fight to get this buttoned and I definitely won’t be able to write a check today. Oh well there’s always tomorrow, this bill can wait…
1:30pm I need to eat something. I haven’t eaten all day but it’s such a major ordeal to make anything. I know – I’ll have cereal and milk. It’s easy. Wall walk to the kitchen, make a bowl of cereal, wall walk back to computer desk. Sit down, yay, I made it back and didn’t spill it! Eat cereal, check google news, play a little more candy crush while eating cereal.
2:30pm Crap…where did the day go…I got nothing done…Leave home to drive up to school to pick up kids.
3:10pm Bring kids home to start homework. Get them to take off their school uniforms to get them washed for tomorrow. Fold laundry, move wet clothes into dryer, put uniforms into the washer. I’ve got to go sit down. Standing in the laundry room folding clothes is making my legs act wonky. Wall walk to the computer desk again. Sit and play a game. Try to get body to settle down. Try to write the check again. I’m holding the pen a little better. Well the writing is “legible” it’ll have to do. Where are the envelopes? Ask one of the kids to go downstairs and get one from the basement office. Address and put a stamp on the envelope. Where is the return address stamper? Crap – it’s down in that same office. Oh well – I’m not expending the energy to write that. I’ll drop it off in the morning at the post office after I take the kids to school.
5:00pm Oh man…I have to take a kid or more to ice skating, rock band, tutoring, school functions. Well…I’ll take them but I’ll stay in the car since it’s too much walking for my legs. They’ll understand.
7:00pm Back home for the evening!! Ask the kids if they got their homework done and hope they are telling the truth because I have to cook them dinner and won’t have the energy to do both. I’ll make something easy. Feed family, clean up dishes, get the kids to take showers. Make an effort to help with homework.
10:00pm Kids go to bed, watch recording of the local news then the national news (ff through commercials to speed it up), wash face, brush teeth, hobble to bed.

[ThisIsMA]

Really well written! Educational for people without MS. Humorous, sad, and very familiar for those of us with MS. Thanks for sharing it here!

M.A.