How much can one brain hold?

So, I was thinking yesterday or today (see, I don't even remember which!), how much really, can one ResLifeMom's brain hold; seriously...

We wonder why we have this insane generation of millennial students at our universities and helicopter and stealth bomb parents on our campus landing pads; I get it! Really, the kids are just doing what they've been doing for 18 years (or 23 or 27...right Jen? Traditional age has changed?) as are the parents. I'm realizing that the amount of stuff, just for my kids that I"m required to remember, AND not only remember, BUT find time to GET DONE...is staggering! Never mind, a house and being a wife, and OH, being an employee in a crazy field! Because on any given day, I might need to remember and accomplish the following (ahem..in no particular order):

Decide what to have for dinner
Pick package for the pre-school photos
Sign up to walk the pre-schoolers to the fire station
Remember to ask for a half day to walk the pre-schoolers to the fire station
Remember to re-schedule the one on one that is cancelled due to the half-day off to walk the pre-schoolers to the fire station
Have the form filled out and NOTARIZED to use the oldest's school for Girl Scout meetings
Make grocery list
Defrost what's for dinner
Type out notes from learning community meeting and send out
Get the EXACT? (seriously!) menu for a Homecoming brunch and email it the appropriate person
Fill out the grade school book order form AND write the check
Get the flannel sheets out of storage and wash those
Sew patches on the girl scout vest
Call the doctor to pick up health form for 4th grade AND copy off date of last tetanus shot onto soccer form
Have said soccer form NOTARIZED
Sign another form agreeing to not go CRAZY PARENT LIVING VICARIOUSLY THOUGH THEIR KID on a soccer ref
Come up with something for the preschooler to wear to school on picture day
Get to the Girl Scout store to buy badges for all girls in the troop
Remember to put on calendar that SunDAY there is no religion class, but drag the ENTIRE family to the performance at church that night
Clean the damn bathroom before the in-laws get here
Buy a storage bin for preschoolers "memories"
Remember to nag husband about locks on the bathroom and bedroom doors
Remember to tell colleague and friend that I listed them as an emergency contact
Buy soccer cleats
Respond individually to 20 college student journals
Remember to schedule dentist appointment for oldest
Remember to schedule eye doctor appointment for oldest
Get my eyes checked...its been 3 years for goodness sakes!
Get to the ATM to activate the NEACUHO debit card
Get time to meet with Chris to use the debit card to buy a domain name
Get to the bank to find out if I can sign the Girl Scout Troop checks and deposit dues
Get to the Girl Scout Council office to turn in forms
Follow up with past student who is now advisor for NEACURH conference on what if any accomodations they've been able to make for Jewish student Sabbath observance
Respond to resident parent about judicial that the student is lying about to said parent, but I can't tell them that
what exactly could I have for lunch tomorrow?
Get to Planet Fitness to join
Review student reaction papers
plan online parent class for next week
Plan time to get both girls to Party City to decide upon a Halloween costume
Respond to parent email about Girl Scouts
Find and buy a new fall/winter bedding set
Buy more "big girl underwear" for a certain someone who is staying dry though naps
Call my mom
Coordinate evening schedules with Kevin to his religion class and my government meetings
Cancel the sitter when government cancels their meeting and reschedule for another time and then re-do entire coming in for government schedule
Find a babysitter
Get to the ATM to pay a babysitter
Submit time sheets
Give feedback on new housing project
Wonder if I'll ever get to use my new ipod or have the time to load MY songs on it
Water the mums (why do mine look like shit no matter what compared to the neighbors)
Where am I goign to take the in-laws for dinner this weekend
Do one of any number of agendas for a variety of meetings
Forward a candidate email to the Search Chair
Plan training for a new staff member
Determine what snack I could donate to the Class Basket for the raffle, buy it and send it in
Determine what treat I could bring for the pre-school Halloween party
Get pre-schooler's 3 year old bloodwork done....a month later
Maybe reschedule my haircut
I need some new pants and fall/winter clothes in general

I don't even exagerate when I say all these things could be flying around in my head in any given day. Its INSANE! The level that require of parental involvement too is staggering. I mean, I just made parents do it for Girl Scouts, so who am I to say anything, but...

it still speaks to my point about parental involvement in this generation of students and children and why its so difficult for parents to let go. People say its because my girls are younger, but in fact, I work with a number of 45-55 year olds with high school and college students and they do the same; flext here to get to the recital, then fit in working the booster booth at the game, before leaving and driving the younger one off to their practice...its insane, insane, INSANE!

Did I mention its insane?

So anyway, my initial question was how much can one brain hold? Apparently a lot, BUT at what cost? Health? being late? Forgetting things? Not doing everything to full quality? I know, what about Kevin, you say. See, here's the deal; I have guilt! So I need to own that! Kevin, because he makes his own schedule (I know I"m lucky here) is home with Abbie noon-5:30 and Autumn 3-5:30 on Mondays, home with both girls 3-5:30 on Tuesdays through Thursdays and home with Abbie all day and Autumn 3-5:3o pm on Fridays, so sometimes I have guilt about saying, oh, and I need to go to this or that. Also, both girls have a high need for just me time for very different reasons. How do I build that in? My lovely mentee and co-leader for Girl Scouts, though not a Mom yet, had a wonderful idea about rotating weekend mornings or afternoons with each girl. Then of course there's family time to fit in though and lest we forget, the ever-elusive Kevin and I time. Its horrible, because these days, I don't want to travel anywhere to see anyone on the weekends; it takes away free time and creates more work that needs to be fit in elsewhere during the week. For example, we're goign to Kevin's brother and our sister-in-law's in two weeks FOR AN OVERNIGHT...IN NEW HAMPSHIRE...6 HOURS AWAY!....UGH! I would give anything for them to say, "oh, we have something that came up with our practice (they're Docs) and we can't have you up" ...oh that would be lovely! Though then again, I'm already half way there in CT at a NEACUHO e-board meeting, so what's it matter at that point. Plus, now my in-laws are expecting us to stay Friday night before we head up to NH and really, whom am I to deny them seeing their son and grand-daughters; especially that I moved them ALL THE WAY OUT HERE to NY, because what are they going to do when they're older and can't come out here (as if staying just about 24 hours, with 8 of those sleeping is a lot to begin with). Plus, you need to sort of equal out the visits between the in-laws and my TWO sets of parents (oh, the joy of divorce and remarriage...it still affects you at age 37!).

So, people often wonder why I blog, read, plan facebook bowling at 12am; um....did you just read my blog?

That is all, because though I'm not tired now, I will be dying for a nap all weekend and can't get them because I"m grocery shopping two days earlier than anticipated, shuttling the preschooler to gymnastics, cleaning the house, entertaining the in-laws, attending a travel soccer parents meeting (that's RIGHT! After the rant you just saw, I said TRAVEL soccer...), hang out while the girly practices, work on the social studies project, spend time with the girls, plan something fun to do on Monday when we're all off and maybe, JUST maybe, take a nap, but....probably not!

Maybe more on my first experience as a Girl Scout leader later this weekend...oh, oh, or on being Chair of a Host Committee for a professional conference...