But at my back I always hear...

For disappearing acts, it's hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work. ~Doug Larson

Time literally melts away round here. Each day has the same number of hours in it but as I work my way down the list of things that have to be done the minutes get whittled away until I literally have none left yet seem to have achieved very little.

I have the academics desire for a perceivable outcome: do your research, write your paper, collect your A but running a family does not work like that. After 5 kids you would think I had that one worked out but no. I still wonder why the daughter work perceives as highly organised with good managing skills is running round like a headless chook begging me to iron her work shirt, find her socks & a hairbrush, make her lunch & then leaves one or all of the above sitting on the kitchen bench?! Meanwhile I, who do not have good managerial skills, is stolidly plodding down her list getting one thing after another done because Liddy in a right old tizz because she can't make life do what she wants it to do is unlivable with. Liddy is already there at work before she has ever left the house. Tanned & with her cheeks filled out instead of model gaunt she at least looks like she's had a holiday but stocktaking starts today now they have Liddy back so that relaxed serene look is unlikely to last long.

Meanwhile the list of things I wanted to get done [wash the dishes, sweep the floors, put on the wash, copy the map work for Ditz's history] has to wait & Ditz, who has all the attention span of an oversized gnat, has wandered off to do something else from which she is loath to be removed for school work. On days we go out it is even worse & I keep a running list of things I need in my head: boat fares, mainland keys, reading material, flute times, choir times, violin times. Ditz at least can be relied upon to organise herself & be ready, hair brushed, music & instrument packed, when I yell at her to head for the car.

Frantic, frenetic & frazzled are terms that come to mind. My goal this year is to try & achieve all that has to be achieved at a more peaceable pace. If the boys head north this may just be possible. Liddy is an excellent little 2nd in command & willingly picks up the slack on those days I am on the mainland with Ditz organizing dinner for herself & Dearest, putting her own wash through, leaving me a note before she heads to bed if there is any change to the morning routine that I need to be aware of. Ditz is getting older too & I am considering sending her island hopping for flute on her own this year, which will give me some much needed breathing space. There is nothing I can do about the mainland activities. Despite what Ditz thinks letting her parade round town after dark is just not on & only someone who has tried to untangle what Ditz has understood from a set of instructions has any idea of how confusing that child can make a simple requirement.

In the shermozzle blogging becomes a little erratic but I like to blog. It helps ground me; keeps me sane; puts my life back into perspective & reminds me that the can I'm carrying is no heavier or harder than anyone else's & is considerably easier than some. So I'm off to find my erratic daughter & do our re~aloud, the map work I finally got printed out, the science & her dictation ~ all of which require little me ~ remembering that not only do I choose to do this but I do actually enjoy homeschooling. Pity I can't say the same for Ditz!