I spend a total of one month every year...in the kitchen

As most readers will know, I'm a stay-at-home mum to two young boys aged 16 months and about to turn three. Only the eldest goes to day care and he's only there twice a week. I also work a bit from home, run this blog thing and do creative writing in my 'spare time'. So what does this mean? In a nutshell - I'm permanently stressed, surrounded by chaos, never have enough time in the day, yet am constantly showered in love.

Ok, and what does this really mean about my day-to-day life as a mother? Well, I've been thinking about this a lot lately and I reckon the easiest explanation is to just quit the jibber jabber and break it down in simple figures.

So here's what being a parent to two toddlers means to me right now in terms of numbers (note all figures are calculated on averages, naturally):

• 30.33 - how many days a year I spend in the kitchen (at least 2 hours a day - no wonder I get nothing done!)
• 50 - the amount of times I say "no" every day
• 35 - how many minutes I spend a week looking for misplaced water bottles (that's over 1.25 days a year!)
• 24 -how many dollars I spend weekly on tantrum diffusion or bribery (including toilet training treats) - that's $104 a month!
• 5 - the amount of times my youngest tries to rip my nose off daily
• 40 - how many minutes each day I spend singing
• 4 - the amount of times I have to rescue the cat daily from extreme hugs, tail pulling and being sat on
• 28 - how many minutes I spend a week stopping my kids from touching technology devices and electronic equipment
• 14 - how many loads of washing I do a week
• 10 - how many times I want to scream each day
• 0 - the amount of sleep-ins I get a week
• 8 - the number of beds I make each day (when there are only 3 beds) 
• 2.33 - how many hours a week I spend putting away toys and books (equates to over 5 days a year!)
• 14 - how many minutes I take each week to decide what to cook for dinner (that's deciding only, not cooking, buying ingredients or cleaning up)
• 5 - the number of children's poos I clean up or assist with daily
• 1.5 - how many hours I spend a week stacking and unpacking the dishwasher (that's 3.25 days a year)
• 40 - how many minutes a day I spend watching children's TV
• 42 - the amount of times a week I don't get to go to the toilet by myself
• 15 - how many times I laugh out loud each day
• 100 - how many cuddles and kisses I have every day with my children

What do your numbers look like?

photo credit: mikek via photopin