2x the Laundry

Somewhere between the births of Frodo and Samwise, we were given a lot of advice on how to handle the change between one kid and two. It's a compulsion for parents to pass on this kind of thing to the newbies (one I share, much to my chagrin). One of the tidbits that stuck with me (and that I've passed along, come to think of it) was to think of each additional kid as "doubling the laundry (and every other chore)." To prepare oneself for the second, or third, or fourth, bundle of joy, you needed to think of life with twice as much laundry as you had--while technically not true, the workload seemed that way. Ditto for cooking. Ditto for cleaning. And so on.

Now frankly, I don't really remember things being that way--but maybe that's because we were prepared for it. I remember an uptick in duties with Sam, not really with the Princess, and then another with Arnold--'tho given his personal entourage of medical challenges, that might be the source of a lot of it, so I'm not sure that counts.

Fast forward to a month ago, when we started the 2008-09 school year, and Arnold joined the ranks of the formally educated (not formal enough for some of his grandparents to stop carping, mind you). Wow. I could not, cannot, and probably will not believe how much more work things are this year. Yes, part of it is the larger course load the other three are taking--but it really all seems to be coming from the time needed for Arnold. And yeah, it feels like twice the laundry.

I.am.exhausted. By the time four o'clock rolls around, when (94% of the time) we're done with everything, you practically need a spatula to scrape me up. I'm pretty sure I've never looked forward to weekends as much as I have the last few.

Thankfully, Arnold's a very bright boy, and he's picked up a lot of what we're doing so far faster than the others. On the other hand--he's very demanding. Now that he's started school, he wants to be doing a lot of it--now. He doesn't complain about the workload (unlike the others), he complains if I don't give it to him quick enough. Thankfully, he is easy to satisfy--and he's becoming more understanding about me spending time working with the others--once he's done his lessons for the day, he's more than content to stop and play.

Please don't get me wrong--I'm not complaining (intentionally), nor do I have any intention of quitting. Mostly I'm surprised. I really didn't expect this, I knew this year would be harder, I just didn't realize how much so. If there was any part of me thinking I was sufficient for the task, it's been killed (and stomped on, cut into tiny bits, broiled, revived and killed again).