I'm learning quickly that life with kids is never "normal". I suppose that some days are more, shall we say, "familiar" with my boys, but I don't think life after kids could be coined "normal".
That said, in the last 2 weeks we've had so many huge adjustments that launch any idea of normalcy to a whole new level.
2 weeks ago today T began his carrier as a school boy. As the bell rang to dismiss T on his first day of kindergarten, we greeted him with a car jam-packed (he literally had to leap over huge piles of camping stuff to get to his seat in the back!) and off we went for our 4-day camping trip with 3 little ones!
Two days later, P began preschool.
And, let's not forget about the baby...in the past 2 weeks he GOT HIS HELMET OFF!!! (Look for a post on that soon)!!!
He's graduated from baby food and now is eating everything we eat (from spaghetti to hamburger!). He's also mastered crawling and now pulls up to standing -- ON EVERYTHING. Speaking of EVERYTHING he now hits his head on just that. Every corner imaginable and unimaginable. It's as though he's got a beacon for them! Seriously! I believe he's convinced that he's invincible since he practically was when he was helmeted. Life. Has. Changed.
BIG TIME!
Also in the past 2 weeks my sweet husband has started physical therapy for his injured back (due to putting in Pergo flooring in P's room this summer to help w/ his bad allergies). It's been very helpful for him to work through the new exercises, but also really painful.
As for me, I had to make a difficult decision to not be a part of a beloved moms group this year. Between the commute through traffic and the push to leave early and be home before T gets off the bus, it just did not make sense. This was, however, the way I was able to connect and spend time with some of my dearest friends (and also have time to have conversations with adults!). I will really miss it!
And this past Thursday, I began Community Bible Study (CBS) at a church unfamiliar to me. After a crazy morning getting T off to his carpool buddy, P off to preschool, (it was P's special day to bring snacks and a poster about himself), then go across town to find the unfamiliar church only to arrive and have to bounce S in the front pack the whole 1 1/2 hours to keep him happy due to a bad cold...then had to rush out 30 minutes early to pick P up then hurry home before T got off the bus then get lunch for this tired and hungry gang...and did I mention our VERY overtired/sick baby?!
I LOVED CBS but felt overwhelmed and weary at the thought of every Thursday being like that. Needless to say, after much prayer and wise council, I sadly ended up quitting that as well.
I hate quitting. And I don't use the word "hate" loosely. When I quit something I feel like a failure if I don't follow through on something I have committed to. I take things really seriously. Too much sometimes. But this obviously was too much for me to take on.
Less is more...right?! Please remind me of this!
A very wise man, (Steve Moore for all the SPUers out there), once told us as college students, "Life will never be this busy again. I'll repeat, life will NEVER be this busy again...It will only be busier!" I remember thinking, how could life GET any busier between work, homework, projects, student teaching, etc.
You know, I now believe him! It's gone from busy to crazy busy! And we aren't even doing soccer!! :)
So, what does the "new normal" look like for us during the week?
Here's an overview in a nutshell:
Monday:
-- 6:45 Alarm goes off for breakfast/hang out with God
-- 7:30 nurse and change S/breakfast for him in highchair
-- 8:00 warm milk/make breakfast for T and P (set out vitamins, allergy meds, etc.)
-- 8:15 T and P clocks turn green, head downstairs for breakfast
-- 8:20 T and P are eating, I'm helping them get clothes on and hair done while they eat/would love to memorize memory verses then if time permits (wishful thinking!)
-- 8:35 pick up neighbor girl(s) for carpool/head to elementary school to drop T and neighbor(s)
-- 8:55 drive to P's school to drop him at preschool (will be late due to T's drop off)
-- 9:10 Arrive/walk P into preschool (while lugging S on my hip) for drop off
-- 9:15 Get S back into carseat/rush home to get him down for morning nap
-- 9:30 Arrive back home/put S down for nap
-- 9:35-10:05 Ride exercice bike
-- 10:05-10:45 Shower/get ready
-- 10:45 Dishes/Run a load of laundry/check e-mail/blog (if time permits)
-- 11:10 Wake S early from nap to get in mid-morning nursing/diaper change
-- 11:15 Rush out door to pick up P
-- 11:30 Arrive at preschool
-- 11:50 Arrive back home/begin lunch process
-- 12:10 Grab boys (who are the midst of eating lunch) and run up the street to pick up T from bus stop
-- 12:15 Arrive back home and begin lunch for T and myself
-- 12:45 Clean up lunch dishes (while S is getting into EVERYTHING!)
-- 1:00-1:30 Run another load of laundry/play with boys
-- 1:30 Put S down for afternoon nap
-- 1:35-2:15 Read/talk with boys
-- 2:15-3:30 Boys in room time/Unload dishwasher/check e-mail/read/blog?
-- 3:30 Nurse S/diaper change
-- 3:40 Get milk/snacks for boys
-- 4:00 bike outside if not raining/play with neighbors
-- 5:00 begin dinner process (while S is getting into EVERYTHING)/boys watch their shows
-- 6:15ish eat if Daddy's home
-- 6:45 clean up dinner dishes/boys wrestle or play hide and seek w/Daddy
-- 7:00 bath/showers for all 3 boys
-- 7:30 nurse S/put down for bed
-- 7:45 read books w/ T and P (each parent takes one boy)/pick out clothes for next day
-- 8:00ish prayers/lights out
-- 10:30 dream feed S (to keep my milk supply up)
-- 11:00 Bedtime
Tuesday: Less rushed due to P not in preschool that day and no carpool responsibilities; same time frame for wake/breakfast, etc., no exercise bike, or running back and forth to schools
Wednesday: Same as Monday minus carpooling T to school
Thursday: Now that I'm not doing the new Bible study, my Thursday will look exactly like Monday, minus the carpool to T's school
Friday: Every other Friday T has school from 9-1:30 (regular day is from 9-11:50), on the "off" weeks he does not have school at all on Friday, I plan to either have play dates over or have a low-key morning with boys when I have all 3 home
Lots of adjustments in the past 2 weeks, but we're getting the hang of it! :)
* Life will begin to feel a bit less rushed when I drop nursing (end of October when he turns 1) and when S drops his morning naps between 15-18 months (end of February or so)...and then I may use the morning time when I have a little less than 2 hours with T and P gone to go grocery shopping/run errands/go to park.
4 comments:
Things will ease up. And, then, they will be crazy again. I can't believe how having older grade school kids is changing my life! The homework! The activities! Piano, soccer, cub scouts, and we don't do half of what some families put their kids in. I'm exhausted just thinking about my week! You can do it!
People ask me all the time, "how do you do it?" And the ansewer is always the same. "you just do!" ANd you love it. And that's why they come one at a time, so you can add to the chaos slowly. You can do it!
We're trying to figure out how to keep up with the schedule, too. But it is so neat having these kiddos head off to school. Seems like last week you and I were talking about T's and A's nap schedules.
Love seeing S without a helmet... so fun to see that handsome hair again.
You are doing so great! You sound very organized too. I think you did the right thing to give up the Bible study...running across town and being in traffic can be exhausting for sure!
I did love seeing a glimpse into your day by the way!
You did not QUIT, you tried something new and it didn' work out!!! Life is crazy, it was much easier when we played mommy with my baby brothers:) But I agree with other posts, it is TOTALLY worth it!
SUggestion, try getting S to give up his nap around a year? My little did b/c of daycare and after a few weeks it was great not to have to be tied down for 2 naps and the long afternoon nap was great:)
I now have my kindergartner in MY classroom after school and it is fun but I don't get nearly as much accomplished now that she's there to "help" She started homework today so now I got even less done... Oh, well, somehow everything gets accomplished:)
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