My two oldest kids are with my Mom and Dad this week. They've been there without me quite a few times. When Evie was born, before and after holidays, and a few times when Dennis and I went on ministry related trips.
This time, it was for no reason other than I wanted a few days at home to get caught up. I think it was about this time last year that all of my "systems" started to get roughed up a bit. I am a bit of a conundrum because, while I don't do well with repetition and overly structured environments, I also cannot be productive without first creating some kind of plan and writing it down. I will deviate from it 98% of the time, mind you, but I have to have something to start from.
I have created a title for my dual personality. It is called "bohemian type-A". I shrug off the restraint of a rigid schedule, but then I turn around and create a new one for myself. Maybe that's called wanting to be your own boss. Maybe that's called being like a two year old.
Anyways, the kids will come back on Thursday, and they will have been gone roughly a week. Today was the day that I started missing them like crazy. I feel like I've got my head on straight, and my whole life is put into some kind of chart or spreadsheet, so...bring it on, kids. Give me your worst! :)
So far, I have read two books, typed up our budget, created a homeschool box for Izzy and one for Korban, created a "daily focus" list of tasks to be done on certain days of the week, and a chore list stating what chores need to be done daily, weekly, monthly, and bi annually. They are all posted on the wall so that Dennis can help me keep up with it all.
Oh, and my personal favorite is the daily schedule which accounts for every hour of every day from 6am to 10pm, Sunday through Saturday. Yep, we'll be sticking with that one to the letter. NOT.
The reason I like having a schedule written out, though, is I tend to get caught off guard by long stretches of time when I'm at home alone with all three kids and they are all awake. They need something to keep them interested (besides Elmo) or else they'll revolt. I'm very much a visual learner and processor, so now I can look at the chart and see that there are roughly 4 hours a day of that time, and now I have planned to do chores, reading, a craft, 30 minutes of screen time, and some active play with that time. Tuesday is the day that I plan the crafts for that week, an Wednesday is when we go to the library to get our books for reading time.
If you think about it, I kind of have a small preschool going on here, and every good preschool or elementary school teacher knows that failing to plan = chaos.
Anyways, I took about 2 days to rest and recover, and I've spent the rest of the time getting organized and planning ahead for the next few months. I highly recommend finding a way, if at all possible, to give yourself an opportunity to reset soon. Since I was about a year into the chaos, a week has been good. If I had only been a month in, a day would have been fine. A few weeks, and an afternoon would have sufficed.
Now, check back in with me this time next week and see how high, mighty and organized I'm feeling! :) That will be the true test!
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