We Could Improve On That

We are two month into school and we have had some successes along with some hiccups.

Mainly, the solution to the problems is that I need to get my bum in gear most days. I'm the one holding us back, or so it feels like. But also, our schedule. Wyatt works F-T, and on most F-M he starts work between 12 and 2, leaving an hour before that to commute. That means that on those days, the mornings are our only time with him as on such days he gets home after the kids are in bed. Usually, we do not do circle time in the morning when he is here because, frankly, I sleep in too late. Wyatt usually wakes up with the big girls, takes the baby out when he wakes up, lets me sleep alone until the baby is ready to nap, and lets me sleep with the baby during his brief morning nap.

I know, why am I complaining that I get to sleep in and have a short window of time where I absolutely do not need to have my brain tuned in to any other person in the world? Not surprisingly, it is during this time that I actually dream and drool. A lot. It's like my brain has some time to actually rewire or connect things that should be rewired/connected on a normal basis. The brain just doesn't have the chance to do so between night time nursings and being attuned to the girls in the other room and their night time needs.

At this point, any morning routine doesn't happen. It just doesn't. Despite my typed- and printed-out schedule and the girls' list of morning tasks, things don't happen if I don't get out of bed until 9 or 9:30 on most days, to no fault of Wyatt's. This should surprise no one. I need to rethink things. I really love that time completely to myself in the morning, but maybe I should actually try to get to bed earlier, which is hard because once the kids are asleep for the night the house is quiet. And I can clean in peace. And I can sit on the computer and actually string two thoughts together. The struggle of every parent, I know. But maybe, just maybe if I go to sleep before midnight I won't need to sleep so late. Thoughts to ponder.

I think another hang-up is our eating schedule or lack thereof. I get the impression that my girls might not be the only kids in the world who are hungry every half hour, but I've also heard of kids who can go longer between meals? The food thing, it does drive me crazy. However, let me not neglect to give thanks for the provisions that we have. This is a very first world problem. My kids are hungry every half hour and, get this, I can actually provide them with food. Healthy food, and plenty of it. Man, that helps give me perspective even amidst the crazy-making, constant requests for food.

I need to figure out how to menu plan, and I need to figure out how to make more meals. I feel as if I am always piecing together "meals." Slice of cheese, pickle, salami, a variety of fruit, some carrots, and several cracker... whabam. Meal. That or it's PBJs. Elizabeth asks for fruit smoothies as often as she asks to have her nails painted, approximately 5-10 times a day. We can be eating breakfast of bacon and eggs and she will pipe up, "I was thinking that for dinner we could have smoothies today!" Smoothies are a great way to get some good things into them, but I kind of hate the process of making them and cleaning up. Lazy of me, probably.

In August I made some changes to our prayer space in order to make it more kid-friendly. Here it was in progress.

So, menu planning. It has to happen, if only for me and Wyatt to benefit from having actual meals the way that we used to, and the way that many people of all traditions do. The hang up is finding time to figure out what to prepare that is quick and nutritious. The other hurdle is trying to find something that the girls will actually eat. They aren't the pickiest of eaters and are actually branching out some, but they can be particular about certain things.

Lastly, Facebook. Time suck. Guilty. Nuff said.

As it turns out, it's easier at the moment to elaborate on the aspects of life that are feeling like hurdles in our efforts to build a household and educational rhythm. I'll get back here soon to go over what has been successful and fun. And don't get me wrong, I'm not discouraged so much as I am becoming aware of areas that can be changed to provide more flow to and peace in our lives.