The Gallery: 24 hours with an Aspiring Domestic Goddess

There are days when I don’t know at what point yesterday ended and today began, such is the number of times I have staggered from my bed to the nursery to deal with Dimples then crawled, sometime later, under the now-cold duvet for what I hope will be the last time until morning. Last night was one such night. This makes it tricky to know at what point to start the clock running on the task that Tara has set for this week’s Gallery, but assume that it’s somewhere between 6.30 and 7.30am and be grateful that I don’t keep a camera by my bedside. Then follow me on a journey through the mundane and oftentimes boringthrilling day in the life of me: Aspiring Domestic Goddess.

7.30am, or thereabouts: give drinks to the Girls whilst trying to close my eyes for two minutes, hoping DH will monitor activity from his side of the bed. Open them when the crying starts, realise DH has left the room, Dimples has fallen off the bed and is harrassing the Wonder Hound (who is still shut in her crate in the corner of our room) and Tweeva is stripping off her nightie because she wants to be a ‘Streaker’. Give up on sleep, throw on some clothes and begin the task of getting Girls dressed. First, Catch Your Child. Dimples, though speedy on the crawling front, is smaller and easier to wrestle to the floor. Threeva is another matter since she has decided she will only wear a top that is in the wash and goes into meltdown which lasts for the fifteen minutes it takes me and, alternately, DH to pin her to the floor and dress her.

7.58am Downstairs, turn on coffee machine, let dog out, ignore wailing from Threeva that she “doesn’t want to go to school” and “wants to watch Tweenies” whilst I get their hot chocolates ready. Throw school bags in car whilst Girls guzzle hot chocolate then bribe with a biscuit to let me strap them in. Spend half an hour driving five minutes up the road whilst listening to the adventures of My Naughty Little Sister.

8.32am Home. Let dog in. Feed dog. Feed Dimples. Eat breakfast listening to Radio 4 and making list of things to do. Pick Dimples’ bowl up from floor for third time then bung her in Funpod to stop her eating dog food whilst emptying dishwasher and doing laundry. Leave Dimples playing in the sitting room whilst I get bits out to make decorations for her birthday party. Realise it’s all gone quiet and find Dimples at the top of the stairs. A new skill- joy! Spend most of the morning repeatedly stopping what I am doing to rescue Dimples from the top of the stairs meaning that, by 11.45am, I have a half-made wreath in the kitchen, a half-folded laundry pile in the sitting room, a half-consumed cup of coffee on my desk and half-sorted baby clothes in the nursery.

11.46am Due to our long night, Dimples is now exhausted so sit and cuddle with her on the sofa watching last night’s Glee on Sky+. When she falls asleep, I nip to the kitchen to grab some lunch and eat it whilst checking emails and watching Glee.

12.45am Trainer arrives for a weekly torture session as I am still struggling with SPD post-birth and am training for an event in October. Dimples wakes up 15 minutes into the session so I end up using her as a weight.

1.45pm feed Dimples lunch whilst trying to get a bit more wreath done. Leave to dry, check emails whilst sharing feeding Dimples an ice-cream sundae. Needless to say she ends up covered in chocolate so I take her into the newly finished bathroom and bung her in the tub whilst I have a shower.

2.45pm both dressed, with her too-small clothes now put on the Ebay Mountain and her sister’s cast-offs installed in the nursery drawers, we come downstairs whilst I wrap a gift to take to a playdate, and coax the dog in from the garden. Discover a variation of Dimples’ earlier game involves her going upstairs and throwing toys down the stairs, bringing me running (thinking she’s fallen downstairs) to find a glee-ful Dimples laughing at me from up on high.

3.15pm run errands en route to school, collect Threeva and dash to a friend’s house for a playdate.

6.15pm Finally arrive home after sitting in roadwork-based traffic to find Ocado man waiting for me. Dump children, bags and shopping in hallway. Let dog out, get hot chocolates for Girls, put on TV and unpack bags. Quickly tidy all mess before DH gets home.

6.30pm Bathtime. Fight with Threeva who wants her dad to get her out of the bath. Leave her in an empty tub and get Dimples ready in new (to her) pjs. Have a little cry when I realise that Threeva wore them not so long ago. Then get crying Threeva from cold tub, wrap her in a towel and put her on nursery floor whilst I read stories to crying Dimples.

7.00pm Daddy comes home, Threeva goes to her room with him and I put Dimples to bed then get changed.

7.30pm Remind DH I’m going out. Head out to Desperate Mothers’ Club for cocktails and uninterrupted conversation.

11.00pm home. Let dog out, take off coat, get dog in. Go upstairs and check on Girls, who are peacefully sleeping, and DH, who is peacefully reading. Just enough time to get my pjs on and take my make-up off before one Girl cries. Then the other one. At some point DH ends up in Threeva’s bed as she sleeps on the floor wrapped in towels (a whole other post) and I bring Dimples into our bed. Thus I don’t know where one day ends and another begins……

I am certain there are many more captivating 24 Hour entries at Sticky Fingers. If you are still awake!