Trying – I’m really trying….

Okay, so I have a minute and I find that there is something cathartic about being able to get all my thoughts and ideas down onto paper and seeing as i don’t keep a “paper journal” it all goes here.

So, I have a choice, the baby is sleeping and the kids are outside playing and I could be doing laundry or……I could brain dump here.

Brain Dumping, it is!

Like I mentioned last post I am really trying to find a balance in my life.  I’ve spent a huge amount of time in front of the computer and I’m trying to be wise about my computer/Internet time.

I started last week by planning out our breakfasts and dinners.  I think that eventually we might plan out the kids lunches, but ofr right now they are just making them on their own on a day to day basis, and we’re supervising to make sure that they take a protein, a carb, a veggie and a fruit instead of 6 fruits and calling it a lunch.  It made a HUGE difference in so many ways.  I was able to plan out our meals using food that we aready had on hand and to make sure that our diet was varied and then I was also able to make a shopping list of what we actually needed and then stick to it…..WAAAAAAY better than just winging it.  AND…..the kids didn’t ask ONCE, “what’s for dinner?”  and i was getting that questions (no joke) about 20 times and it started first thing in the morning – before they’d even had breakfast.  It was unreal.  Now they can just look on the fridge and see what’s for dinner and there are no surprises and I don’t even have to think about it except for on Sunday nights when I’m planning the weekly meals. 

I also did breakfast because we don’t just eat cereal and so we rotate between porridge, eggs and toast, pancakes, eggs and hashbrown and usually have cereal once a week.  I planned that out and once again,the kids seem to be so much happier knowing what to expect and how to help out in the mornings (like either making the panckae batter from scratch or by cutting up the potatoes for hashbrowns).

Jon and I also sat down and worked out a weekly schedule so that he can get ahead a bit this month.  He has a ton of work, and if we can get a few extra hours in per day that would make a big difference in what’s coming in as far as the monthly earnings.  So, I know what to expect, and he knows what hours he’s working and what hours he’s “at home” with me and the kids and even the kids know when to leave dad alone and when he’s free, becuse we sat down and wrote it all out on the white board for them so there could be buy in from everyone.  the bonus in this comes in that we vaguely planned out the next 2 weeks as well (Spring Break) and if all goes according to plan, Jon will be able to take Wedesday’s off and we’ve told the kids that we’ll have Wacky Wednesday’s and Super Saturday’s where we’ll plan to do something fun with them….now I just have to come up with some options of “stuff” that we can do.  Stuff that they can choose from.  More planning….so much fun!  I say that with rolled eyes, but there is an element of fun in knowing a little bit of effort can alleviate a WHOLE ton of stress.

Moving on…….I did get ‘Siah immunized yesterdayand he’s got a fever now….I hate that.  i have more say on that topic, but i feel like I always have more to say and not enough mental and physical and emotional energy to actually get it out.  So, hopefully that will be my next post…maybe!

Author: Patricia Culley

I'm the ringmaster of my own circus. Just trying to stay one step ahead of the monkeys. View all posts by Patricia Culley