I Don't Know How You Do It?!

My title is a sentence that is said to me so often I have lost count. I thought I would give the cliff notes version of my daily schedule.

1. I get up at 4:30am Monday to Friday. On weekends I am up in the 5am hour. Why?! Because I need a good 30 minutes with my own brain before I add in any other brains into my day. 
2. The first thing I do is consume my vitamin drink then I follow it with one half of a lemon squeezed into 2 cups of warm water. I get my breakfast ready (usually a poached egg with one piece of toast and a cup of chai) and make my way to my desk.
3. One weekdays I am working by 5am. Why?! Because no one answers their emails that early. I get so much done between 5-6. I even amaze myself sometimes.
4. Kids get first wake up call at 6. They have to be at school by 730. First call is at 6, then serious wake up call is 630. We have learned that rather than rushing and panicking (which still happens sometimes) we do the multiple calls to get them moving. At some point hubby is up and moving so then this is where the me going in a gazillion directions kicks in. 
5. Once the girls are up and moving and/or at or off to school (we take turns driving them) I look at the board to see what we are doing for dinner. I live by the crockpot. My mother says our home is where crockpots go to die. I have to admit she is correct. I kill at least one crockpot per year. 
6. Then I am back to work. I spend my days bouncing between work, hubby's needs, cleaning and whatever else gets tossed in. It is really crazy, but I do find time to take a lunch break with my hubby as many times during the week as possible.
7. Kids are back home in the 3pm hour. It's homework, extra curricular activities, and chill/snack time. I try my hardest to have all of my work completed by 3. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I fail. My ultimate goal is to give the girls as much of my time as possible since they have been gone all day.
8. Dinner is served in the 5-6pm hour. 
9. Then it's reading, baths, snacks and bed.On school nights everyone here is in bed by 8. I am usually the first one out, but 8 is our shut down and be quiet time.

Do I think everyone needs to be up at 430am? No, this is just what works for me and our home. While the first 4 hours of our day Monday-Friday are basically the same, no day is ever the same around here. We tend to stick to this format, but life happens and sometimes our format gets tossed right out the window. When we are on vaca, I usually stick pretty close to the up in the 5am hour, but everything else is up in the air. I am a creature of habit and function best on a schedule, but I do love vaca!!

As you can see I carpe that diem, then sleep, and repeat. There are 24 hours in each day, I am highly selective on which ones I chose to use as pause time. You are correct to assume I received excellent marks in school for time management. Ha!!