A God-Given Day

My day begins at 5:30am. Most of the time though I get up ahead of the alarm. It frustrates me sometimes not to be able to sleep at least 6hours. In hindsight, it allows me enough time to pray and have more quiet time with the Lord before my feet hit the cold floor.

Packing lunch for my 4 year-old is the first order of the day. I prepare sandwiches--grilled cheese, hotdog, and/or peanut butter and jelly on alternate days; sliced apples and mango juice. Waking her up at 6:15am is pretty much predetermined by how and what time she slept the night before. It's one thing when she had at least 8 hours sleep and it's another when it's less than that. Our mornings are different each and everytime (smile).

After the bus had picked her up, need to go back to the kitchen for my husband's breakfast. I'd like to think he loves my omelette with chopped onion, tomatoes, green chilis, turmeric and pepper accompanied by buttered toast and jam. It's actually a result of the abrakadabra routine I do in the kitchen. I'm a bad cook. My kitchen IQ is probably just about .1% above an idiot. And for me to be able to make an honest omelette is boy, a miracle in every 100 years! That's why we hired a cook.

After my husband had left for office, I'm left with this massive work at home. Don't get me wrong. I love household chores. I enjoy doing the laundry--especially careful with hanging clothes with applied color coding, large to small, using appropriate clips. Yes! Art can be applied there, too (smile). If you're a housewife or single living alone you can probably relate to me about the endless jobs I'm talking about here. Laundry is just one of them. Nothing more pitiful than crying while scrubbing the toilet, right? And I try to fix that by eating a dozen cinnamon rolls! I meant that as hilarious. I want heavenly promotions. I try not to be like that anymore.

Relieved from the hassles of cooking, I can turn to blogging. Put my thoughts into writing. Thanks to Shane, my not-blood-sister but a good friend, who encouraged me to create a blog as an outlet--more like a motherhood cum wife literature--subjects can be diverse. It's basically self-serving. 

As I wait for my child to return from school, I think of some crafts we can both do for the day. A big chunk of that challenge has been taken away by my good friend Anitha. When our kids are back from school, she gladly welcomes us to her home everyday providing a super fun indoor space for my kid and hers. It's good for both our kids to develop social skills especially living abroad where everything is foreign and everyone a stranger.

Coming back home, I make sure she naps between 3 and 5pm. That helps her recharge and do homework. Afterwards, it's play time till dinner time. My husband comes home around 6-6:30pm. I give him downtime before dinner. We talk in between if the mood permits. Otherwise, we watch TV together--mum or talking--it depends.

That's pretty much how life treats me or how I treat it everyday. I turn to the Lord in prayer after a long day of both physical and spiritual drought. I said drought because it is up to me to steward my inner strength out to be useful and as meaningful as possible. It can be draining sometimes sans sleep vis-a-vis hormones at work! Who said it's easy to be a mother and a wife at the same time? I'm the last person to sleep and the first person to get up. But I'm compelled by love. I'm enjoying my journey.