Managing all the neighbor kids that love to play in our yard/house. Yes, we love to play and share but I've had to find a limit for this.
Knowing when to drag the kids out versus playing at home. Our summers are usually filled with getting out and doing things like the petting zoo, the library, visiting friends, visiting dad at work, etc. But this year.. once those neighbor kids were here I felt like I had to drag the kids out of the yard. And the few days we'd dash to the car from the house, some kid would peek around the corner and ask where we're going, then sad they couldn't come with us.
Shared space/not so quiet, quiet time. We had an agreement that Wendell could play his beloved Wii while the girls napped. This kind of worked well but as the summer closed, I realized that I literally need quiet time.. no buzz, no noise, no people to look at or sit next to or step around. Although Wendell was pretty awesome about leaving me alone, I was also asked to play a Wii game with him on occasion. And although, I'd love to spend every moment playing and watching my kids do what they do best, I also need to be alone sometimes. I need to say 'no' sometimes even if I want to do these things.
Toys everywhere. With three kids that are playing with toys and a small living space, this is a constant problem. There really is no solution to this other than we are learning how to clean up often yet I need to be patient as the day goes on. We don't have to clean up ALL the time but there is also a limit. This summer Hurricane Ali came to visit.. yep we've given her a nickname. We call her Hurricane Ali because like every 1 1/2 year old she pulls out toys and strews them all over the floor and then goes on to something else. I remember with Harlie we got the pack-n-play out on occasion to contain her, we might have to find a solution for miss Ali as well.
So some good changes for us too.
Harlie and Ali share a room. I made the transition about 2 weeks before school started and all has gone well. They share well, the rooms are organized, and they don't feel too crowded.
Staying up late and sleeping in. ** this has changed since school started** this summer Phil and I were very laid back about bed time and it was so nice to just live life and not hurry for anything. Bonus, often the kids slept in : )
Use or Loose Vacation. So in July I realized that I had use or loose vacation so in August, I will only have worked 2 days the whole month. So I know how 'normal' stay at home moms get to sleep in : ) and stay up late. My life with work is pretty much on a schedule of going to bed around 10/10:30 and getting up around 6:30/7am. It's not bad but I've gotten stay up late (like past 11pm) and not worry about throwing my sleep schedule off. Oddly, I'm starting to miss my job and I'm ready to go back. If all goes well, I might do this every summer! The not so great thing that I've had to deal with, is I had to help get the kids ready. My awesome husband gets the kids breakfast, and dressed most days so I rarely have to do this... which is usually a stressful thing for me. (the only way they listen to me is if I yell, literally; and that gets old)
Ali. Ali is sleeping through the night consistently. Ali has teeth (6 now). Ali walks well. Ali is talking/jabbering. Ali shares her opinion by yelling at us. Ali throw tantrums, full fledged get on the floor, fists clenched and squirm (they make me laugh!). Hurricane Ali (as stated above). I told Phil that with the other kids 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 years was hard for me. I thought maybe I should made myself a 2 year count down : )
Good/bad?? I'm not sure how to categorize this but my 'to do list' and menu planning went away this summer. I only cleaned when I couldn't stand it... but somethings didn't get cleaned like mopping the floor, dusting, cleaning windows and the usual organizing/cleaning out. I had a very relaxed summer but now that it's over I'm not sure I want to start back up. I feel like I'm on both ends of the spectrum... racing to get my to do list done or simply not thinking of it. Hopefully with 2 of 3 kiddo's in school, I'll be able to meet in the middle a little better. But I know that next summer, I'll take off as well from any projects/major cleaning so I can enjoy the kids. As far as the menu, we've adjusted just fine but I may kind of start it back up as I want to try some new recipes and that takes some planning ahead as far as getting certain ingredients from the store.
So what will this school year bring? Lot's of good.. and some quiet sad. I already see how people say it goes so fast. It does go fast, so we moms have to be so intentional about putting things aside to watch and enjoy our kids. That's part of why I like to blog.. I know I'm out shooting pictures but it's their smiles I'm capturing. Some day I'll look back and see what fun we had. I hope I can focus on what was right and not what was wrong/regrets.
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