I don't like talking on the phone and don't really have much time for it ... unless I give up my beloved grown-up story time. And it's SUCH a hard habit to break! (Please don't make me ...)
I don’t like talking on the phone. And I don’t really have time for it. Texting and PMs were made for people like me. Can I just get rid of my phone’s voice calling plan? .
“OK, I know what you’re thinking – “You don’t have 30 minutes for a phone conversation? Come on!” Well … I do and I don’t. I have 30 minutes, but when every facet of your schedule is mapped out, accounted for, and consumed by something, an unplanned 30-minute call can really throw a wrench in things … or force me to sacrifice my sacred “story time.”
A Typical Day in the Life
Let me tell you how things usually go on any given day in my life. I get up at about 5 a.m. to get myself up, dressed and ready before I have to wake up my husband and daughter for work and school at 6:15 a.m. Then, I’m helping Reese get dressed, brushing and styling her hair, loading up her backpack with the lunch I packed last night and a fresh bottle of water, yelling at her repeatedly to put her shoes on and fixing her breakfast. After I get the crew out the door and on their way to work and school (my husband drops off Reese on his way to his office), I am on my own in the house from about 7:15-8 a.m., when I leave for work. During that time, I’m feeding the dog and taking her outside (no fenced yard!), packing my own lunch and work bag, emptying or loading the dishwasher, and putting the finishing touches on my makeup/hair/outfit.
On my way to work, I enjoy my first of two “story times!” Yep, you read that write. I’m an audiobook freak! I devour at least one a week. I’m a total addict. So, I peacefully listen to my book for half an hour before I arrive at the office for 10-11 hours of craziness, chaos, meetings, events, prioritizing, evaluating, re-evaluating, etc. I do not take a lunch break, and I usually leave work around 6 p.m. On my way home, I enjoy the second “story time” of the day … ahhhhh, bliss!
I get home at around 6:30 p.m. and the next two and a half hours are a blur of pure madness. From 6:30-7 p.m., I’m scrambling to get a halfway decent dinner on the table. Then we’re eating, cleaning up from dinner and packing up leftovers, helping Reese with her homework, going over the daily papers and letters her teacher sends home, wrangling Reese into a bath, brushing her thick mass of wildly wavy and tangled hair, reading her a story and (if we’re lucky) putting her to bed by 8:30 p.m. After half an hour of yelling at Reese to seriously go to sleep now (No really, now! No, I mean it – get in bed!!!), it’s about 9 p.m. I then spend time packing lunches for the next day, going through the mail and paying bills, maybe doing a load of laundry, tidying up, and discussing any matters of interest with my husband. By 10 or 10:30 p.m. at the latest, I’m in bed. Seven hours later, I repeat the whole thing again. Yay!
And that’s a day when Reese doesn’t have any extra-curriculars that we have to shuttle her to! She has ballet classes on Monday and Wednesday, soccer practice on Tuesday, and acro class on Thursday. On Saturdays, we have soccer games, and then it’s grocery shopping, catching up on about 48 loads of laundry, cleaning the house, and taking Reese to whatever social obligation she has (a birthday party, play date, Girl Scout meet-up or gathering, etc.). On Sundays, we have church and then Reese’s CCD class (it’s basically required Sunday school for Catholics so Reese can make her sacraments). Then we grab lunch and head to the 2 p.m. Girl Scout meeting. When we get home from Scouts at 4 p.m., I’m packing lunches, getting Reese’s backpack and school uniforms ready for the week, cooking dinner, doing my weekly phone call with my parents (see, I DO call people), and handling the whole bath/story/bedtime routine (just like any other weeknight).
Oh, and usually I have to work late 1-2 nights per week (leaving my husband on his own with the dinner/homework/bath/bed routine) and I always work at least one weekend day per month.
So when, during any given crazy day as described above, do I have time for leisurely phone chats? Yeah, I know … I need to give up “story time!” But it’s literally the only “me” time I have each day, and it honestly helps to keep me sane and centered. I know, though … occasionally forfeiting story time is the only way I’m going to make phone time work. Being a grown up is so weird. I can’t imagine struggling to choose between reading (listing to) a book and gabbing on the phone as a teenager. Wow, how our priorities change, huh?!
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