I went to see Jon's volleyball game yesterday afternoon. It was an away game at my old high school. I can't believe that it will be 20 years since we graduated in June! When I was a teenager I remember thinking how far away turning thirty was! Now I'm not all that far away from being "not thirty", and it feels like that will be here way too fast!
Time goes by so fast that, when I do pause for a moment to take a breath and look around, it takes a moment to realize how much I have changed and my family has changed. Kind of like when you are tired or really distracted when you are driving to a familiar place and when you arrive you don't really remember driving there at all.
Sometimes(usually) I have this idea in my head that I have to have a certain amount of chores done before I can do something for me. Let's call it Cinderella-itis. (You know how she was told she could only go to the ball if she got her chores done and had something appropriate to wear!?!) For me, it's usually having the laundry cleaned and folded and having the kitchen cleaned up and the general clutter neatened. Rarely, are all these things taken care of. So I never really feel completely at ease doing things like exercising, reading a magazine, or vegging out in front of the TV(watching HGTV, which just makes me want to do more projects!).
I don't think men have that same problem. Maybe it's their inability to multitask. When they are concentrating on one task they don't have the other undone tasks dancing around in their head! As a multitasking mom, when I'm walking through the house on the way to the laundry room I'm making mental lists in my head of what needs to be washed and put away in each room. When I'm sitting down nursing the baby I'm scanning the room already making a mental list of what I'm going to do when she's done. (When I walk in my bedroom, I just shake my head and shut the door! That's a half day project all in itself!)
I don't know how working moms do it! I have the utmost respect. I can barely keep this house afloat being home almost full time(except Tuesday mornings when I work for my parents' business..Of course, we do have 2.5 times the people in a "normal household"). I know the biggest challenge right now is having an infant that is very needy for much of the day and a toddler that needs a lot of attention. I know from experience that the laundry and dishes will always be there but Kate's sweet, gummy smiles and Luke squeaky little voice will only last a short time. But add in the rides for the older kids, and the nursing, listening to stories about their school day, and the nursing, making dinner and the nursing, etc. really leaves little time for even the "regular" chores. It's hard not to be frustrated about that sometimes. It's discouraging when you feel like you cannot climb your way out of the clutter around you! (The kids do help a lot, but sometimes rooms just need a "mom clean".)
But today's a new day! I can only try my best and accept where I, and my ability to clean, are at. Hopefully, I can get to more of the clutter today. I did manage to catch up on folding the clean laundry this morning. Now to tackle the 3 dirty loads waiting to be washed, put away the clean laundry, take care of last night's dishes(Jay was out and Kate was really crabby last night!).....right after I nurse the baby...and shut my bedroom door!
