Too Tired?

The feedback I get from people that read this here blogarino is awesome! I love hearing from you all. It does help motivate me. Thank you!!!! I have responded to each one of you individually, but am going to share some of the overall thoughts that people have shared with me.

Too tired
I have heard that people would do as much as I do if they weren't too tired or they wish they had my energy. Believe me, I'm tired. I'm tired as all get out. I am usually falling asleep in the chair while watching Mickey with Tyson at 7PM. I think that is to be expected from getting up at 4:15 six days a week. I have to force myself out of bed at 4:15. I don't enjoy getting up that early to workout, but I do enjoy how good I feel after I have worked out. I feel an incredible sense of accomplishment by following through with what I set out to do. If I can just get to the point where I am ready to workout (water glass full, sports bra on, workout clothes on, shoes and DVD queued), I make myself get to it. It isn't like I'm sitting here in the chair every night after a long day trying to contain my energy. I have to summon the energy gods and push myself to get it done and do it well.

Typical Day
Some have asked what a typical day consists of for me. This mostly relates to the previous discussion about being too tired/lacking energy. I don't know if it is helpful, but I have put a lot of thought into my typical days to show the ins and outs of what I do most days and definitely weekly. I do also have to mention that Brett does help out with some of these things, but definitely not within the first two hours of my day. Ha!  The first two hours of my morning consist of letting the pups out, feeding them, prepping the coffee maker, getting Ty's sippy ready, working out, switching out the laundry, getting myself ready for work and snuggles with Ty.

I utilize my work breaks to run errands and make appointments. Errands meaning Target, grocery store and vet runs.

After I pick Ty up from daycare, I try to make it a point to spend quality time with Ty. Of course, I must vacuum everyday after work, so there are things that need to be done before playtime. We eat around 5 every night, so I don't have a ton of time right away with Ty. Once Brett gets home, I usually hit the kitchen and get supper started, unless it is in the crock pot, then I can go a little longer.

After we get done eating and cleaning up the suppertime mess, we have about an hour to play with Ty before bath. Yes, he still goes down pretty early. No complaints here! After bath, we sit down with Ty and watch an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (Lord help Brett and I to not rip our hair out) and Ty goes to bed around 7:30. Once he is down, I either get in another workout, do laundry, pay bills or watch a little TV. Getting up as early as I do, I don't have much time to spare after he goes down before I have to go to bed myself.

Contrary to what anyone may believe, we do not have a cleaning service that comes to the house. Oh how I wish we did. The bedding on our beds get changed weekly, or in Ty's case, daily. I cook something for supper 99% of the time. We hardly ever eat out. Having that meal plan in place is so helpful.

Once a week, I tutor away from home, so I don't have that one evening a week to do whatever else I need to do.

Our weekends are usually very busy. Between home improvement projects and trying to spend time together as a family, there are also grandparents and aunts and uncles that want to see Ty. This is a huge reason that I started working out at "normal" time on Saturdays so that I could get it in as a sure thing. Then, of course, I'm running around during nap time trying to accomplish whatever I can while Ty is sleeping. Most of the time it is going to the grocery store for the big weekly trip, steam mopping the floors or prepping supper, which Ty loves to help, but I have an issue with having him help with raw meat.

All of the stuff that I listed is just the stuff that I do around the house. This doesn't include anything that Brett does, which adds another monkey wrench into the whole thing because most of his stuff has to be done when Ty is not two steps behind. Brett is learning how to be more patient when it comes to Tyson's "helpfulness." Brett takes care of the dishes around here and Ty is more than happy to help put things away, but I know how frustrating it is to just want to get it done without "help" from Ty, but Brett now has a new understanding of why things take me so long anymore. Ha!

I'm no busier than anyone else. I am really creative with my time, though. I have to be in order to get stuff done. Until we can hire someone to do the things, I will continue to be creative with my time. Or if I could win the lottery and be a stay at home mom, that would be another option.

Working out with Tyson
People have asked how this is going. Well, I will tell you, it is going about as well as working out with a 2 1/2 year old can go. He doesn't have the attention span to actually participate in a 45 minute workout, or even a 30 minute workout. Example: the other day, I had a 45 minute workout on the schedule. I started it. By now you would think that Ty would be FULLY aware of what TurboFire is and that mommy likes to do it. This workout took over an hour and fifteen minutes to complete because I had to pause it numerous times.

After seeing me workout for over a year, he should be used to it by now, right?! Nope. Again, he's 2 1/2!!!! I just have to be sure to wear my patience on those days that I know Ty will be joining me in my workout. Anyone that has kids or animals for that matter should know that things hardly ever go the way you plan them. I will admit that it is frustrating at times to work up a sweat only to have to pause the video to go upstairs to refill a sippy cup only to have to go back upstairs to get him a snack four and a half minutes later. I will also admit that sometimes I'm not nearly as calm and collected as I should be when I'm trying to stay focused on working out. Then, I remind myself that it isn't my "normal" workout time and I'm actually on Tyson's time now. This is why I workout before he even thinks about getting up, that is MY time. I suggest ,to any parent wanting to expose their kids to working out, to keep your expectations low. Wear your patience HazMat suit. Stay calm. I am repeating all of this to myself as I type it. I feel like I'm ready to try again with the boy.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to those of you getting creative with your time, until next time...