Ignore the sleep-deprived crazy woman over there---->
OK, so I'm operating on a total of about 4 hours of sleep in the past 48+ hours. This time it's not because I haven't been in bed--it's the old insomnia striking. All that lying awake in bed for 4-6 hours at a time gives me lots of time to stress out about not sleeping and what else isn't getting done. :)
A combination of elements (sleep deprivation, hormones, and other things) is really pushing the swing of my moods lately. One day everything is fabulous, the next I'm thinking the world is ending. Not the best approach to life, really.
I find myself embarrassed by my last post, and others. After all, I highly doubt anyone comes here because they want to listen to me whine. So, sorry about that.
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Last night was a little farewell gathering for my friend Former Military Woman. They're moving away, to a place where Former Military Guy (the one who had an emergency appendectomy several weeks ago) got a job and FMW is going to go back to school, to get training to do something she's always wanted to do.
I'm really happy for them, but sad that they're leaving. I'll miss her and their family. A lot. But I'm hoping this move will be a really good thing for them.
At the gathering last night, FMW mentioned that she really needed someone to ride with her on the very long drive with the kids, since they would both need to drive separately. Just simple things like taking a potty break at a rest stop become so difficult for an adult traveling alone with two small children. Especially when the baby is sick. She'd had someone lined up to go with her, but they had become unable to go.
So I told her I'd check with DH and see what he said. He, marvelous, giving and flexible guy that he is, thought it would be a good thing for me to go along to help out. So Baby E and I will be going along for the ride. Even though I'm adding an extra kid, it' still improving the adult-to-child ratio.
So, I'll be driving this weekend with FMW to their new home. Then on Sunday Baby E and I will fly back. We'll be on the same flight as FMG's brother or something who is riding with FMG to help load/unload furniture. So I'll have help navigating the airport, layover, etc. which will be nice.
I'm really glad that DH is so willing to be Solo Dad for the weekend so we can help out a friend. And I'm happy to get to have the extra time to spend with my friend. Hopefully it will be really helpful to her to have another adult along for the ride, and we'll get some good time to talk and enjoy each other's company along the way. It may turn out to be almost a mini-vacation!
Baby E is coughing this morning, so I really hope she'll be okay for the trip. The older girls are still coughing and sniffling, but seem to be feeling okay otherwise.
I have big plans for today and next week, to be more focused in both my tasks and in the time I spend with the kids. I think I'll go back to using a timer, set for 10-15 minutes at a time, to help keep me from getting distracted or spinning my wheels.
The situation's not completely hopeless, I keep reminding myself. After all, progress, not perfection is the goal. And I have a lot more things in life to focus on than a messy house--my three smart, beautiful, fabulous daughters, for one.
My family room still looks like this (forgetting for the moment the 8 bags of clutter waiting to be sorted in the garage):
The kids' rooms are pretty close to that, too . . . so at least they have room to play.
The dining room, living room and office look mostly like this:
The rest of the house is somewhere in between:
Today I have hope that, overall, things are moving toward the better end of the spectrum (that would be the family room end, in case you were wondering).
As Kevin and a few other commenters said, it's a matter of priorities. One thing I know I don't want is a lifestyle I can't maintain on my own. I do NOT want to need help keeping my house. And I think, as Jo(e), Casey, FlyLady and my husband have been saying, simplicity is key. Decluttering is probably the single biggest thing I can do to make my life easier.
Jo(e) said it well: "The easiest way to clean this house is to make sure we have very little stuff in it."
Today I'm going to try to do my morning routine. Then I'm going to set the timer and spend 15 minutes decluttering.
But first, I'm going to go and focus on my babies for a while.
A combination of elements (sleep deprivation, hormones, and other things) is really pushing the swing of my moods lately. One day everything is fabulous, the next I'm thinking the world is ending. Not the best approach to life, really.
I find myself embarrassed by my last post, and others. After all, I highly doubt anyone comes here because they want to listen to me whine. So, sorry about that.
###########################
Last night was a little farewell gathering for my friend Former Military Woman. They're moving away, to a place where Former Military Guy (the one who had an emergency appendectomy several weeks ago) got a job and FMW is going to go back to school, to get training to do something she's always wanted to do.
I'm really happy for them, but sad that they're leaving. I'll miss her and their family. A lot. But I'm hoping this move will be a really good thing for them.
At the gathering last night, FMW mentioned that she really needed someone to ride with her on the very long drive with the kids, since they would both need to drive separately. Just simple things like taking a potty break at a rest stop become so difficult for an adult traveling alone with two small children. Especially when the baby is sick. She'd had someone lined up to go with her, but they had become unable to go.
So I told her I'd check with DH and see what he said. He, marvelous, giving and flexible guy that he is, thought it would be a good thing for me to go along to help out. So Baby E and I will be going along for the ride. Even though I'm adding an extra kid, it' still improving the adult-to-child ratio.
So, I'll be driving this weekend with FMW to their new home. Then on Sunday Baby E and I will fly back. We'll be on the same flight as FMG's brother or something who is riding with FMG to help load/unload furniture. So I'll have help navigating the airport, layover, etc. which will be nice.
I'm really glad that DH is so willing to be Solo Dad for the weekend so we can help out a friend. And I'm happy to get to have the extra time to spend with my friend. Hopefully it will be really helpful to her to have another adult along for the ride, and we'll get some good time to talk and enjoy each other's company along the way. It may turn out to be almost a mini-vacation!
Baby E is coughing this morning, so I really hope she'll be okay for the trip. The older girls are still coughing and sniffling, but seem to be feeling okay otherwise.
I have big plans for today and next week, to be more focused in both my tasks and in the time I spend with the kids. I think I'll go back to using a timer, set for 10-15 minutes at a time, to help keep me from getting distracted or spinning my wheels.
The situation's not completely hopeless, I keep reminding myself. After all, progress, not perfection is the goal. And I have a lot more things in life to focus on than a messy house--my three smart, beautiful, fabulous daughters, for one.
My family room still looks like this (forgetting for the moment the 8 bags of clutter waiting to be sorted in the garage):
The kids' rooms are pretty close to that, too . . . so at least they have room to play.
The dining room, living room and office look mostly like this:
The rest of the house is somewhere in between:
Today I have hope that, overall, things are moving toward the better end of the spectrum (that would be the family room end, in case you were wondering).
As Kevin and a few other commenters said, it's a matter of priorities. One thing I know I don't want is a lifestyle I can't maintain on my own. I do NOT want to need help keeping my house. And I think, as Jo(e), Casey, FlyLady and my husband have been saying, simplicity is key. Decluttering is probably the single biggest thing I can do to make my life easier.
Jo(e) said it well: "The easiest way to clean this house is to make sure we have very little stuff in it."
Today I'm going to try to do my morning routine. Then I'm going to set the timer and spend 15 minutes decluttering.
But first, I'm going to go and focus on my babies for a while.
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Posted by purple_kangaroo at 1:32 PM[Permanent link]
3 Comments:
I love that you're going to be making that trip with your friend!
And your family room looks fantastic. And so does your kitchen.
Thanks, Liz.
Please don't be embarrassed. Ups and downs are part of life, and I'm reading your blog to be at least tangentially involved in it. I just look forward to the good, and hope I can help with the bad, even if that just means a few words of encouragement. Particularly if your last post was in any way cathartic, it was well worthwhile.
I like Joe's quote; it sounds like a good, natural principle. Though I would imagine that the decision to live simply is easier to apply to yourself than your kids. It is probably our good intentions that lead to these complexities.
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