I need a break!

The past few weeks in our household have been nuts. With my husband on a business trip one week, my trip to Blissdom Canada the following week plus various school meetings and networking meetings thrown into the mix, organizing our schedule was nuts! These obligations were in addition to our regularly scheduled routine and trying to juggle the logistics have been exhausting.

I need a break. I need one week in which all we have to worry about is our regularly scheduled routine. The beauty of routine is that it becomes second nature. You don’t have to think about it. You know where your kids are, you know who is picking them up and that is it. No coordinating caregivers, no piece meal solutions, no stress. It just runs as usual.

I had the tools and the ability to make it work and our household ran like a well-oiled machine despite the absence of one or both of us. I do not, however, have the stamina to keep this going. I have also noticed my children being affected by our absence. Very rarely do we have someone other than me or my husband put the kids to bed. In the past few weeks, bedtime routine has been done by my sister or mom at least twice a week. This has lead to a more difficult time saying goodbye at school and saying good night. When I start to see my usually happy children become more clingy and sad, I know it’s time to take a break.

I have had enough and will take a break from over scheduling myself. I missed my children when I was at Blissdom. I admit it. I missed snuggle time, their stories, their dancing. I love hanging with them and being there for them. Blissdom was definitely worth it but I am glad to be home and getting back into our regularly scheduled programming.

They say these days that kids are overscheduled but what about us parents? How can we keep the balance in our lives? I think the first step is recognizing the need to change. Now the challenge becomes learning to say No to some of the great opportunities that are presented to me. I must be strong, at least for a little while, and take a break. Wish me luck.

Productive Day

I really dreaded Brett leaving me with Juliet for his trip. Not because I don't like hanging out with her, but I really wondered how I would juggle looking after her, the business and all the household chores without him. Not to mention my parents are also out of town so I have limited babysitting options.

Well, I am super impressed with myself today. I wish Brett was here only to show him how much I got done today. Juliet and I woke up just after 7am, had breakfast and cleaned up. Then I cleaned our bathroom. Then we went out and bought diaper genie refills (there has got to be an alternative as these are so expensive) and bought Juliet new shoes. We then went to the park and had lunch.

Got home and Juliet went straight to bed as she was exhausted. I worked for two hours straight. Filled orders, answered emails and even made some sales calls. When Juliet woke up we headed to the bead store to get supplies for my new hobby (see previous post) and then we went grocery shopping.

We got home. Put away the groceries and I tidied up the kitchen. Then we had dinner, I gave Juliet a bath, put away two baskets of clean laundry, put in another load of laundry, fed Winnie our rabbit, emptied all the garbage bins in our house and took it outside. I tidied Ainsley's book shelf (it was a mess) and went through her clothes and put away clothes that were too small. I then repaired a number of books that had been ripped.

I thought that was enough for the day and now I'm blogging, tweeting and watching TV.

My goal is to have the whole house completely clean by the time they get home. I don't know how I found the time today but I hope I can keep this up all week. I am looking forward to a tidy home.