Motherhood is like running a marathon and a sprint at the same time.

A friend whom I haven't spoke to for 7 years came online yesterday.  We caught up with each other's news and gossips, when he asked, "So do you like watching Korean dramas? What about reading comics? I'm planning to go to see a cosplay this year."

Uh oh. Let's see, when was the last time I finished watching a leisurely series of TV dramas? That must have been in the year before EggEgg was born.  And comic books? I haven't read one since he was born too. 5 years ago. Which begged his next question, "Are you really so busy?"

With children, everything is a rush, a blur of activities.  From morning hours, I have to feed, change, dress, clean up, pack 3 kids + myself, within 30 minutes, before hopping into the car, dashing madly through the traffic to get to pre-school.  And while the hands are busy, I still have to do a running commentary on everything that is happening around the roads, plans for the weekend, lectures for yesterdays misbehaviour, etc.  The day's sprint has begun.

Then groceries shopping.  Ah... that's the "leisure bit" where one have to only get the supermarket trolley loaded with 1 weeks worth of food. And that translates to, 2 dozen eggs, 5 liters of milk, 2 loaves of bread, 5 kg beef-pork-chicken-prawns-fish.  Not forgetting to entertain 2 kids (one's in school) and make this shopping trip a smooth one.  A weight lifting session.

Then coming home, the first 90 minutes is usually another sprint: unload groceries asap while baby wails pitifully in the car (going down that flight of stairs 4 times in world record time), write up this weeks menu plan, bath baby, wash another load of laundry, feed baby while reading Cola a story, eat a snack to top up energy, check email, give Cola a shower since he's got poo all over his butt, cook lunch, sterilise dummy, load dishwasher, take photos of baby smiling happily in the bouncer.  And whew~ just in time for lunch.

(Same deal for afternoon school pickup, feeding them afternoon tea, bathing everybody...)

By the time evening comes, what energy is there left for watching TV dramas? what humour is there left of comics appreciation?  Besides, the "night marathon" has not even begun:

To my friend's question, my reply was, "You just wait and see for yourself."