I am always asked, "How do you find the time to do all of that???" It hasn't been easy, that's for sure. But my husband has been a huge help. He works and I stay at home with the kids. This has been a huge sacrifice for all of us. On my husband's part because he is away from the kids and I for such long periods of time and on our part because he's away so much and we all miss him. It has also been a sacrifice to our budget. Having that one income means we cannot replace the TV that has 1/3 of the screen covered with little white lines, and my decorating revolves around our second hand furniture that I have dubbed "Early American Salvation Army" style.
It has been a sacrifice, but one well worth it. We homseschool our children which has encouraged them in ways I couldn't even imagine when we embarked on this journey. We have a 4th grader who knows more geography and science than most college age students. We have a 2nd grader who seems to fall short in the math department, until you put him in front of a monopoly game... all of a sudden, he is the business guru and no one playing him has a chance at winning. And our little preschooler, our 3 year old, who wants to play a game of chess or checkers every time daddy is home.
But in amongst all this is the daily task of running the house. That's a job that falls completely on my shoulders. My husband is out of town 90% of every month. So I have to make sure that the bills get paid, the toilet gets fixed and the roof doesn't fall in on our heads. I also have to try and maintain a clean and healthy environment for the house, where my kids spend the majority of their time as they aren't leaving every Monday through Friday morning for school.
There is a lot of extra cleaning that I do on a daily basis that I wouldn't have to do if my children were in school. There is also extra cooking as I have to fix all three meals, plus snacks, everyday of the week for my children. The term "Supermom" is thrown out a lot when I am asked about my daily activities.
Really though, it's not super anything, except organized. With 3 kids, 1 husband, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 1 turtle, 3 bedrooms, 1 living room/reading room (we have accumulated a library's worth of books), 1 dining room, 1 kitchen, 2 bathrooms and a schoolroom... I have a lot of living creatures and house to maintain.
During the week, we keep very busy. But to dull some of the craziness that can ensue, I also have a schedule. It is not a rigid schedule, it is flexible as some days we have things that need to be done on a spur of the moment basis. There is a set time for schoolwork and lunch. Playtime and TV time are also on the schedule but subject to change depending on the speed at which the kids finish their schoolwork (I schedule 5 hours but if they are done in 4, they have an extra hour of playtime... but they have to have at least 4 hours of schoolwork a day by state law). There is a time for cooking, a time for eating and even a time for chores. And then there is family time. Something I hated having to schedule, but has actually turned out to be a great inclusion. We play games or talk or watch a show together.
But at the beginning of the month we all sit down and the kids give me their ideas for dinner meals for the month. We fill in a blank calender with their ideas, mine and my husband's. After the kids are in bed, I type it up and paste it on the refrigerator and put another copy in my household binder.
My household binder is my brain. It holds all of my stuff. There is a section for my calenders (daily for those really busy days, weekly where I put ALL the meals and activities for the week and monthly where I can see this month and upcoming months easily). My bills and lesson plans, emergency phone numbers and general notes are also covered in this binder. I also have a master schedule which includes the chores I need to do each day (i.e., Monday: scrub the kitchen appliances, wash a load of dark colored clothes, etc). And then there is my cooking section, by far the largest as I love my kitchen and cooking!
My kitchen section has lists of menu ideas broken down by category (beef, chicken, other, breakfast, lunch, snacks). Whenever I come across a blank day on the menu calender, I fill in with one of these. After the menu is assembled, I base my grocery list on this menu. Getting all the meat and shelf-stable items in one large trip at the beginning of the month (the meat because I can cook and then freeze it). Milk, eggs and other perishables are purchased on a weekly basis.
Really, I am no different than other moms. There's nothing "super" about me. I juggle just as much as others and sometimes, one of those little balls does drop. But I try not to panic and just keep plugging along. Some days are better than others. But if I don't get to scrub the living room floor today, it will still be there tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment