As a gemini, I have been told before that I fit the “multiple personalities” bill. I believe this is a good thing considering all of the hats that I need to wear on any given day to make life happen for my family and me.  However, my son and I had a conversation about me being cloned. Now if that could happen, it would be way easier on my brain and my body! I might be able to think less and sleep more! The monkey banging the cymbals in my head could just finally take an effing break! Here are the clones we decided I need.

1. The Cleaning Clone

This clone would have the sole job of cleaning every room in the house, decluttering, and organizing on a regular basis. Most days, my house looks like a twister went through. Oh wait, it did! In the form of FOUR kids! We all know the drill. We clean one room spotless and feel so good about it and become excited about the time we will now have for other things. Then, we walk out of that room to see that, while we were cleaning there, the kids were pretty much shitting up the rest of the house. Now, I gotta say its great to hear people say, “Oh you just gotta keep on them!” BAHAHAHA!!! To them, I lift a huge middle finger and mentally give them a punch in the throat. You see, anyone that truly knows children, knows that it is a constant battle to get them to pick up! Some days are easier than others. Sometimes I just don’t want to scream anymore! I feel like I spend 90% of my children’s lives reminding them to pick up their shit! Its exhausting! Many times, no matter how clean or disgusting your house is, you need to just go to the playground or snuggle and watch a movie and let it all go to shit! This brings me to clone #2.

2. The Play Clone

OMG uninterrupted time with my children doing fun stuff and not thinking about anything else, but being there right then?!? Now THAT is an amazing feeling! My Play Clone needs to take the kids to the movies, the bike path, kick a ball around outside, read more books on the hammock, and all the other things I really want to spend my whole day doing! They are only young once! I spend too much time feeling like I’m missing out on the fun stuff with them because of all the “other” stuff that needs to be done. This is the single most frustrating thing I would change if i could!

3. The Paperwork Clone

Bills, health insurance paperwork, permission slips…they all keep piling up! Just when I sit down for a couple of hours and make a dent, the mail comes! Lo and behold, there’s more! It never ends! Taking care of the paperwork that goes into raising a family is nothing less than a full-time job in and of itself!

4. The Errand Clone

This chick would be hitting the post office, the bank, the dry cleaners, the grocery store, town hall, Walmart, Home Depot, and all the other places that are on my mile long to-do list of shit that I’ve been meaning to get to! If I get a chance in between home-schooling my son and cleaning to run any errands, the list is never completely finished before we are heading off to after school activities.  I have things in the back of my car that I claimed I would drop off somewhere 7 months ago!

5. The Teacher Clone

I love home schooling. I was blessed to do it with my daughters for 6 years. I am now doing it with my son for 1st grade. The difference between then and now is…..drum roll please…all the fucking hats I wear! And know what? There are people out there that will read this and think, “Gee, everyone is busy. It is what it is. Just deal with it or put him in school.” Trust me, I have met these people. To them, I again shoot the middle finger.  Guess what? If you are reading this and you are a single mom or dad with multiple children and you are making it all work, then I am truly happy for you! However, I’m comimg up on 2 years being widowed and I have NOT gotten my shit together yet. It is not from lack of trying either. I know I will get there. If you think you could be one of my clones, then by all means…. When it comes to my children, I want whats best for them. I believe home schooling is still best for my 1st grader for several reasons that would be another blog entry entirely! So…a teacher clone would be great. Watching our children learn and hit milestones like reading and mastering subtraction are truly exciting parts of my life!

6. The Chauffeur Clone

Luckily, I have a great dad who helps me carpool my kids where they need to be, but it would be awesome to just have a taxi waiting outside for their convenience! Gymnastics, cheerleading, football, ccd, school, school activities, time with friends….enough said.

7. The Writer Clone

I love writing! I need to squeeze time in at weird hours in order to get it done now. I need to do a little here and a little there. The thing about writing though is that, once you start and get on a roll, you don’t want to stop! I am in the process of writing a book. I have a goal to finish it this year. I will make it work with a little time here and a little time there because that’s just how it needs to happen! Oh, but having hours at a time to write? Yes, I need this clone!

8. The Traveling Clone

I love to travel. Whether it be local or not, travel is the best form of education and memories that I have ever experienced.  I’m not just referring to vacationing in tropical places either. I want to see things I have never seen and meet new people from different cultures and learn about them. I want to give my children these experiences as well!

9. The Money Making Clone

Well…duh?!? We can all use more, especially if I need to fund my traveling clone! Haha.

10. The Me-Time Clone

Working out, reading a book, going out for dinner, chatting with a friend over coffee, going to see a movie…these are all on my list of the things I enjoy that keep me semi sane. We all need some down time. I am a better person when I fit it in somewhere in my day or my week.

Each day, I juggle these jobs and more, just like we all do! I know I’m not alone! One of the reasons I write these entries is because I know others can relate. It makes me feel better when I read something and can say, “Yes! I know what you mean! ME TOO!” I hope someone reads this and feels better knowing that life is crazy for all of us. I do believe we just need to do the best we can.  Eventually, it all really does get done.  I also believe that we need to remember what is important and count our blessings. I am guilty of doing something because I think it needs to be done that instant, instead of taking 10 minutes out to read with my kids and just take a break. I am working on this. I need to remind myself that the dishes in the sink don’t matter, and neither do the crumbs on my floor. It matters that my kids laugh and know that I love them. It matters that I do what I know I need to be happy inside and take care of myself.  So, I suppose I would benefit if I had 10 of me, but, seeing as I’m pretty sure the world couldn’t handle it, I will just continue to do the best I can. Multi-task on my friends, multi-task on….