Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Adding Structure

As I told the Captain recently, I have reached a point in my non-stellar career as a wife and mom, in which I think of myself as a social misfit. Apparently I lack the skills to even manage myself.

So I hired him. He is, after all, a systems analyst.

We sat down the next morning and arduously worked out my schedule. Down to when I take a shower. The upside is, I felt incredibly validated that I do indeed have a lot going on. No wonder I never feel I come to the end of my job list. It's endless! But this list gives me permission to let things slide if they are not part of my task list for Today.

Last Saturday, as part of the new schedule, we implemented the first-ever family cleaning time. In less than 90 minutes, we had straightened and vacuumed both kids' rooms, put away toys and vacuumed living rooms up and downstairs, and cleaned bathrooms up and downstairs. Boo-yah!

At the end of that 90 minutes, we received a call from some dear friends that just moved to Austin, who wanted to come visit us for the afternoon. What a great reward for cleaning the house!

I'm glad we banged that cleaning out over the weekend, because since then I have been rather preoccupied between finding my favorite home-school reference book, and dealing with THE FLU. AAAUGH!!! I am not a fan of all the sickness and anxiety caused in this household over the last six weeks. Time for it to GO!

My reaction to the stress of having sick kids has also underscored another personal detail: We have enough children. No need to keep going, I'm pretty much maxed out emotionally with the ones we already have in play. So for those who keep asking and hinting, that's my answer. We are done. Is it my final answer? Probably. When will I have a final answer? About the time Lulu turns two. And there is your TMI for the day.

Going back to the home school reference, it was really neat to talk with our awesome friends from Austin, because they homeschool their son. I pulled out that reference book after they left, and was excited all over again about the possibilities of teaching Boo myself. Boo has been home sick all week, and I have really loved having her around so much.

In fact, she validated my entire existence the other night. Monday night, as she was falling asleep, she asked me: Mom, why are you so awesome?

What a great question coming from the kid I battle with constantly. As I have put structure back into my life, I have enjoyed intentionally spending more time with the kids. They are so much fun as long as I am not distracted to the point of constant irritation with them.

Being a mom takes everything I have, but it pays back in dividends.

I have a feeling this thought is disjointed, sort of like the way I feel today. Take what you can from it; I just thought you might like to know.

3 comments:

  1. Sometimes it is a little creepy how much I relate to you.....:)

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  2. i am still trying to get our lives back together. it's reassuring to know i'm not the only one. i should apply my analyst brain to this and stop thinking that if mom could do it, i should just be able to do it too

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  3. Very interesting -- we already think you are awesome and have great reason to be validated. Happy to hear that you are feeling some success and joy in what you are doing!!

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