Triple Sweat

A Day in the Life of a Stay At Home Mom

No wimps need apply!



Dave Eggers said in You Shall Know our Velocity, "It's not the first sweat that stinks, but the second."


Awake at 6:30. Make some tea, check email. Rouse The Boy, inquire of the breakfast request (Pancakes? Eggs? French Toast? ANYthing to get some meat on his bones).


Make breakfast. Call upstairs for Aidan. Once more. Again. Go upstairs. Shake him awake again. Hug the sweet kid as he sleepily stumbles his way downstairs. He may be hard to wake, but he doesn't complain about getting up to train.


Pick up 3 other boys and head to Carrollton where the kids actually get to swim in an outdoor pool. They like to arrive early so they can play in the park. So nice to see them playing in the sunshine, acting like KIDS, this group of young swimmers who seem to only train and train and train.


I've got 2 hours to kill while they swim a few miles. Fortunately, the park is lovely, with a nature area, a rookery (bird sanctuary), and lots of trails. I do about 3 miles. It's at least 90 degrees. First sweat. And I mean sweat. I sweat for at least an hour.


Pile the boys back into the car and hit a bagel shop on the way home. They all share a table and trade stories of exploits while I sit nearby, eavesdrop and pretend not to know them.



At home, and endless list of projects awaits. I decide to tackle erecting the new gazebo on the back patio, we lost the old one in a storm. In March. Yeah, I'm behind on my chores.



The instructions call for "4 adults and a step ladder." I figure I can manage it with a little help from Aidan now and then.



It's nearly 100 degrees. Frequent visits inside the house enable me to cool off, feed hungry kids, check in w/ Ray, who's working at home and trying to tune out all of us. Not an easy job.



Thus begins the 2nd sweat. I think it's the worst. It's prolonged. It requires perseverence. I am soaking, dripping.



Finally, I get the gazebo up, with Ray's help towards the end. I string the fairy lights, run the power, set up all the citronella candles, throw away all the trash, put away all the tools. All jobs I wanted to leave until tomorrow, but it is SO NICE to reclaim the patio. We will dine out here tonight.



Back inside to cool off and get ready for the Next Event: more swim practice. Aidan has an "abreviated" 75-minute practice, right before Bridget's. (yes, he has "two-a-days") We live too far from the pool for me to run back home and get anything done while they swim.



Alas, the kids want to PLAY TENNIS while they're waiting for each other to finish. First, I have to play with Bridget while Aidan swims. Then, I have to play with Aidan while Bridget swims. Then, I have to play with them BOTH when neither swims. All in all, I play tennis for over 2 hours.



This is the third sweat.



So far, nobody complains in the car on the way home. Could it be my Secret deoderant?







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