24 hours

There's simply not enough time in the day to do everything I would love to do everyday. Here's a quick rundown of my ideal day:
Get up at 6am to do everything that needs to be done without distraction from children. This includes getting ready, completing any type of correspondence, and doing Bible studies, as well as any undone chores. (1.5 hours).
Make a healthy and hearty breakfast, and awaken the kids at 7:30 when the automatic coffee maker begins to grind the beans. (1 hour)
Guide the children to enjoy learning while playing with reading lessons, worksheets, art, science, snack, etc. (2.5 hours)
Make, eat, and clean up lunch. Prepare for nap, to which the children look forward and in which they eagerly participate. (1 hour)
Cook dinner during nap, so that when they awaken at 4, we can go outside to play with our friends until dinnertime.
Clean up after dinner. Bathe, read a story, pray with the kids, go to bed (which, again, involves no resistance of any kind.) (1.5 hours--it's a lot of kids!)
While the kids are in bed, complete the chores: fold and put away a load of laundry, do a load of dishes, spray the table, sweep the dining room and kitchen floors, vacuum the carpet, and take out the trash. (1 hour)
After the chores, prepare for the next day of school, which includes choosing worksheets, choosing lapbook activities (and cutting them out), and preparing storybook, art, or science projects. (30 minutes)
Exercise to a 45 minute video, then make sure to stretch to avoid back pain, which is another 15 minutes.
Shower.
Prepare automatic coffee maker to actually work the next day. (5 min, but an important 5 min!)
Sew a bit, to justify the "Cadillac" sewing machine and mounds of fabric I've collected over the years. Make new clothes and repair old ones. (2 hours)
Study a foreign language. Options: Chinese via CD or Spanish via textbook. I'd also love to be able to read the original Greek and Hebrew of the Bible. (1 hour)
Check Facebook again. (oh, 10 minutes or so--right!)

Holy cow, it's no wonder I'm so tired! I'm trying to smush 26 hours of doing into 16 waking hours!

Here's my actual day:
Wake up at 7:30 to screaming children.
Wrestle with the kids to get them all dressed and ready.
Cereal for breakfast. (not the hearty, healthy meal I'm always intending to make!)
Bottles for babies. Change diapers, change clothes, change bedsheets because diapers leaked, get them into the high chair.
Go get ready. Lean ear out the door once every 3 minutes to check for choking or provoking.
Wipe up three spills with bath towel from last night's load of laundry still laying on floor.
Throw dishes in sink.
Make coffee, because I forgot to do it the night before.
While waiting for coffee, hold eyes open with fingers and try to avoid conversation at all cost.
Fix coffee. Try to remember to drink it.
Corral kids for school. Remind David 15 times to sit still and quiet for the story. Finally let him go play.
Make snack. Field questions from kids like, "Why couldn't we have sprinkles? I don't like this. I wanted hyper-juice instead!"
Call kids back to the table 10 times each. Promise to spank them if they do it again.
Throw snack out after kids leave table again. Put crying babies in beds. Push kids out of babies' bedroom.
Crush 17 Cheerios into the carpet on the way out of the bedroom. Yell at kids for breaking the rule. Vacuum Cheerios... then decide to vacuum the rest of the cluttered floor while you have out the vacuum, but don't bother picking up the clutter. Vacuum sucks up a whole shirt (yes, it happens), and burns out the belt. Go dig up some air-freshener from behind the child-lock under the sink. Spray it liberally and high away from kids, who are attached to my kneecaps. Remember to put it back or the kids will spray it in each others' faces.
Beg kids to sit at the table, avoiding the sticky milky spots, to do worksheets or art while I do the dishes.
Check the clock. (Please be naptime!)
Fish out a movie all the kids agree to watch, preferably educational, but anything will do! Tell them 3 times to sit on their bottoms and watch the movie. Leave each other alone!
Announce naptime. Deal with whining, crying, temper tantrums, splitting them up into separate bedrooms, spanking, cuddling, storying, ignoring, breathing. Go outside to get my sanity back.
Finally get the last kid asleep. Sit down to sip coffee I forgot to drink this morning. Get right back up to collect the babies, who have just awakened. Bottles, change diaper, change bedsheets again if necessary, put them in high chairs, and pray they'll be quiet enough to let Saja keep sleeping on the couch.
Get Saja a snack when she wakes up. Tell her, no, she can't go outside without me, and I can't go outside without the others who are sleeping.
Hold Kora for 15 minutes when she wakes up. Meanwhile, get David a snack.
Potty, brush hair, strap babies into stroller, go outside to play. Keep a sharp eye on David, who tends to run in the street. Spank David for playing unkindly with neighbor kids. Take Cheerios to keep babies happy.
Call kids inside. Put on another movie to make dinner. Saute, boil, bake, broil, steam, eat, clean up.
Start bedtime. 2.5 hours later, push through the fatigue and finish bedtime.
Do the chores, prepare for school, set the coffee maker, check the calendar for tomorrow's activities, think about working out, but decide to sit at the computer instead. Stare at the screen blankly with a cloud of weariness covering my brain.
Move Kora out of my bed. Make the bed. Climb in the bed.
Get out of the bed to turn on the fan, set the alarm, brush teeth. Say goodnight to hubby.
Climb into bed, wishing there was more time to sew, learn a language, pray, exercise, shop, meal-plan, spa days, etc. Fall asleep before head hits pillow.

It's the sad truth, but I'm willing to accept the idea that this is merely a season in my life. I'm raising children, not computers who conform to my every whim and wish (and sometimes, computers don't even do that!) I try to find laughter in every day. I try to prioritize my husband and my children, and when I remind myself that God's purpose for our family means much sacrifice, I willingly and even happily put myself to work. It's hard work. It's thankless work. It's endless work. But it's God's purpose for me right now. To shirk God's purpose would mean despair and heartache, even if I thought I were pursuing happiness. My I have the mind of Christ in my role!

P.S. This explains why I've not posted in a while! (I've skipped the dishes to write this. You should feel so lucky!)