I could never resist the Scottish charm, and if she wants to read about a “'typical day' in the life of Thomas”, how can I refuse? But you should know that it puts you into a minority of one, Yvonne.
Monday, 5:55am. The alarm goes off and I immediately and silently curse myself for going to bed late once again last night. Every morning I swear that from tonight on I’ll hit the hay at 10 pm, and every evening the vow is broken. Anyway, 12 miles are on the program, and less than 15 minutes after getting up I’m out of the house. The run goes exceedingly well, and I’m on a high when I come back, a few minutes before my usual return time of 7:45. It’s early enough to catch my wife in bed with another man – but since he’s only 3 years old, I won’t cause a scene. The other boy, Shea, is up by now, of course, and demands porridge for breakfast. It takes longer to make than cereal, and by the time I’ve prepared it for him, Cian has extricated himself from mummy's bed and demands the same, so I go through the same procedure for a second time. Then I can finally have my shower, and after that I wake Niamh from her beauty sleep. Lola is more difficulty to wake, that girl is a real sleepyhead. After finally coaxing her out of bed we can have a family breakfast. While Niamh packs lunch boxes for the kids, I get them dressed. Lola can usually be persuaded to dress herself, Shea usually can’t (unless you’re prepared to leave a few hours late), and Cian obviously needs my help. By now it’s time to leave, I kiss mummy and the twins goodbye (which can take 5 minutes) and Cian and me head off towards Killorglin. I drop him off at the crèche, and arrive at work, usually a few minutes late. My boss isn’t reading this, so I can admit that work is the one place where I don’t feel under pressure to perform 100%. If fact, I sometime feel guilty about not being fully committed to my work. The managers higher up in the food chain seem to disagree though, why else would they have given me a promotion this year? Anyway, nine hours later (I tend to work late, which is why my late arrivals are tolerated, I guess) I’m a free man again. Today is Monday, and I’m off to the gym for an hour. This means missing family dinner, but we do eat together 5 days of the week, which isn’t bad, I suppose. Coming home the first thing to do is to load up the washing machine (Niamh is banned from doing the laundry. I don’t want any more pink running socks or t-shirts, thank you very much) then I can eat my dinner, because by now I’ve turned into the Ravenous Beast. I try to find some time to fold away the cleaned laundry from the day before, and then it’s already time to get the kids ready for bed. On Monday, it’s a shared job, which makes it easier. On Tuesday (Niamh’s evening course), Wednesday (Yoga) and Thursday (Niamh’s working) I’ve got to do it on my own, which is more stressful than a day in the office. Eventually we manage to give baths to Cian, Lola and Shea (in random order); we tried giving them baths together, but each time it ended in a fight/mess/major flooding, and this practise is now officially banned. I don’t know how, but by now it’s about 8:30 pm, and that means story time. Each kid may pick one story and we (that’s the 3 of them and daddy) sit together and read them one by one. After teeth and wee-wees it’s time for bed, but they usually read for a few more minutes on their own (well, the twins read, Cian looks at pictures). We used to have them in bed by 9 pm, but as summer draws closer it’s usually closer to 9:30. Then I finally have some spare time, which I more often than not spend in front of the computer, blogging or emailing. Oh, and don’t forget to hang up the laundry. Of course this takes longer than 30 minutes, and my promise to be in bed by 10 o’clock is long forgotten – until the next morning, when I will be cursing myself again.
What do we learn from that? No, apart from the fact that my weekdays are rather boring, I mean. Firstly, if I don’t go running early morning, I never will. There simply isn’t the opportunity to do so. Secondly, we managed to establish a routine. Maybe it makes the average day less exciting, but once you’ve got a bunch of kids to look after, it’s rather essential.
Monday’s run was great, as mentioned. My heart rate is dropping again. Just a few days ago Mystery Coach mentioned that that can be a sign of overtraining, but that’s definitely not the case here. I just felt really good. Today was less enjoyable, 7 miles on the day after 12 miles in the morning and a strenuous hour in the gym in the evening felt much tougher, but even so I can notice progress. I don’t have to push the pace any more to stay under 8:00 pace. In fact, if I push the pace I end up running 7:30. Things are looking up.
21 May: 12 miles, 1:32:21, 7:41 pace, avg. HR 147 (cool and sunny, felt great)
22 May: 7 miles, 54:21, 7:45 pace, avg. HR 152 (rain. not funny)
Wow. I swear, I'll run roads like this in the fall...after my trail ultra season is over.
ReplyDeleteAs for giving a bath to 3 little kids every night...may be they can skip a day and sleep dirty? I mean, what harm is that? And you get an extra hour to blog! Oops, of course I meant to sleep:)
Man, aside from doing the laundry and running 12 miles in the morning, that's pretty much my weekday too. I have a 4 year old who gets the bath and stories, an 11 year old obsessed with Top Gear and Doctor Who and a 13 year old who looks after herself.
ReplyDeleteI like your approach to work too.
Andy
you first sentence read like me!! but it would have taken me an hour to get out the door!!!
ReplyDeleteNo slacking for you around the house, that's for sure. I often read our daughter the Richard Scarry "Busy Day" books, where father cat (or mother cat or Miss Honey or Sargeant Murphy) go about their overscheduled daily routine. You certainly give Miss Honey a run for her money.
ReplyDeleteWhoo! I remember those days. Having an 18 and 20 year old certainly has advantages! I have no excuse for the fact that I don't get to bed on time. No excuse at all.
ReplyDeleteYou may try to fool us Thomas, but it is obvious you are a good Daddy and devoted to your family. And that is a life well-lived.
I love the rain comment (it was wet here on Sunday). Nice story!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a well-managed fulfilling life, good job. Since my kids are out on their own I don't have it quite as hard as you, but I still have trouble going to sleep on time.
ReplyDeleteYour doing well my friend!
ReplyDeletethanks Thomas! And sorry I arrived so late to read it. One question it answered for me, is that kids get up later in the morning when they get older?? Kyla is WIDE awake and demanding everything by about 5:30am or 6am so that limits things for me first thing in the am (unless i was to go for a run at 4am or so, which ain't going to happen).
ReplyDeleteI also can't quite figure out how you get home from a run at 7:45am, and manage to get the kids up, feed them, take a shower, dress, drop one kid off at creche and get yourself to work by - what time? 9am?? sounds impossible to me!
and i can't imagine for one second bathing three kids every night. bathing one relatively-immobile kid every other night just about kills me!
anyhoo. again, thanks much! very helpful :)
Yvonne, no problem.
ReplyDeleteYes, kids tend to sleep in longer once they get older, don't worry.
Yes, our morning routine goes from 7:45 to 9. I guess we're well trained by now. And of course my kids are old enough to feed themselves, which saves time.
And yes, they really get a bath virtually every night. Living in the country has the effect that they spend a lot of time outdoors - and it also means they tend to be dirty come evening.
hey..it's really enjoyable to read your blog...
ReplyDeletewill visit more often.
i have two dogs. that's just like having kids, right?? :)
ReplyDeletegreat runs!
yowza. and i thought one four year old was bad enough!
ReplyDeleteI notice that you didn't mention TV--I think that's the secret to your success. You are a terrific dad! I would have bailed after reading one story! But I only had one child, and she is now 20, so I never had the opportunity to face the challenges you manage so well.
ReplyDeleteThose are some very lucky kids to have such a great daddy.
I'm still honing my time management skills in order to get those runs in, as a parent.
ReplyDeleteOne word to you: bravo!