“The Office” and How It Relates to My Life
Did any of y’all catch post-Superbowl episode of The Office? Stanley had a heart attack, and after he returned to work, he carried around a bio-feedback machine, which “alerts me when my stress level goes up so I can try to calm down!” (Every time boss Michael Scott came close to Stanley, the machine would beep frantically.)
I thought about that scene yesterday when I was trying to get the kids ready to go out for the evening. I figured my bio-feedback machine, if I had one, would be in an agitated state. It was about 3:45 p.m. I had to get the kids up from their naps and ready to get out of the house by 4:20. Granted, had I used naptime more wisely, most of the following would have been completed before the kids got up, but let’s not get off topic:
- Change Eli’s diaper
- Get Lucy into her underwear
- Get the kids a graham cracker & milk
- Pack dinners for all of us
- Get diaper bag packed
- Lock doors, close blinds, and set recorder to tape Lost (of course)
- Remember my camera
- Remind Lucy to use the potty
- Remind Lucy that she can’t go potty in the car, then
- Put on jackets & shoes
- Put on my jacket & shoes
- Shuffle the toddlers out into the garage
- Endure Lucy’s repeated phrase: “No, I do it!!!“
- Find Eli’s pacifier
- Put Eli in his carseat
- Put Lucy in her carseat
- Start car early to get the heater going
- Find Lucy’s favorite song on the cd
- Remind Lucy to practice asking nicely for her favorite song on the cd
- Call Dave to tell him we’re running late
And throughout all of this, both Lucy and Eli were working through their post-nap stress syndrome, involving a hefty amount of whining, crying, and throwing oneself onto the floor. And a steady stream of declarations from Lucy: “I want to take that book. No, I want to take that book. No, I want to zip it! Eli, don’t! I don’t want to go potty!! I want the white blanket, not the purple one! Watch out, doggie! I want my milk!”
Yeah, my bio-feedback machine would be having a field day. It’s going off just typing this.
What time of day would your machine beep excessively?
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For some reason, Kaylee seems to lose all sanity sometime between 3:30 and 5:00, making dinner preparations stressful for me. Right after we eat though, she seems happy again…very strange.
Getting kids off to preschool or dinner time prep. Usually Jon is home while I am making dinner which helps a TON but on the days he isn’t my stress-o-meter rised exponentially.
definitely during dinner time! She tries to push me away from the counter and it is completely annoying. Daniel works from home and I have told him that you can work any hours you except between 5 and 7.
I had to laugh at your explanation of the process of getting two little ones out of the house. I remember those days! Luckily, mine are a little older now (between 7 and 15) so we don’t usually have the meltdowns (though one is Autism Spectrum so he can still be a challenge at times). With homeschooling five kids, running a business, my own college classes, running kids to activities and running a homeschool group, I tend to always feel like I am the one who is going to have the meltdown
I think it is funny that there is a picture of Stanley on The Mom Crowd. hahaaha
It’s apparent that prepping meal times and prepping departure times are the high-stress times of day.
Shoot, mine starts beeping the second my eyes open in the morning.
Basically anytime the two kids are home together (thank GOD they’re both at school now).
~Although right at the moment it’s pretty high as the Bump is playing with a *very* noisy toy.
About the dinner-time thing, I’ve found that the Bump get really tired and naughty leading up to dinner, then afterwards is great.
I’ve been thinking that maybe he needs to eat earlier…
For me, it is always bed time. When I just had one, bed time was pretty relaxed and even fun. But once there were two kids in the mix that went right out the window. My hubs is a cop, so his weird hours make it so he can’ help out at night. Juggling two baths, brushing teeth, stories, songs, rocking and possibly a breathing treatment by myself leaves me with high blood pressure.
5:00 every week night.
Husband’s just decided to leave work.
The 5 year old is letting me know how hungry he is.
The baby starts demanding my attention.
All as I’m trying to cook dinner, fill glasses, set the table, and grab everyone’s vitamins all by myself.
And my husband never understands the evil eye I give him when he walks in the door just as we’re sitting down to eat!