Almost two months into life as a family of four, I do not have it all together. At all.
Having a second child has really thrown me for a loop with regards to my time management and housekeeping {some day, I'll look probably look back and chuckle at the fact that I thought TWO was a lot of work ;) }. There are some days when things stay relatively tidy and the day has a good flow but a lot of days I feel like I'm going-going-going all day long and don't have much to show for it at the end of the day: an unmade bed, a pile of laundry, toys all over the floor, dirty dishes in the kitchen...you get the picture.
I'm sure many of you have been where I am before, and you probably know how discouraging it can be! By the end of the day yesterday, I was sort of at my wit's end. Both kids were fussing, it was time to make dinner and the kitchen wasn't clean from earlier in the day (meaning I had to clean before I could even cook--ugh!). Over dinner, Ben and I talked about it. I told him how I really felt like I wasn't wasting much time during the day, but I didn't know how things could be so disorganized if I was spending my time wisely.
His advice was to spend several days keeping track of everything I do and figure out from there what needs to change. So, that's what I'm planning to do all week next week--look at exactly how I'm spending my time and figure out how I can improve.
I want to invite y'all to join me! Nothing official or anything, but if you feel like your time could be managed a little better, we might be able to encourage each other in this incredibly important area. Time is such a precious commodity--let's commit together to using it in the most God-glorifying way we can.
Someone once gave me an exel file that has every day from 5 am at the top to 4:30am at the bottom and each hour is divided in half so that makes each hour of the week accounted for, I have mine divided into, sleep, family time, school, house work and time for self and they are all color coded, it really helps!
ReplyDeletei will send it to you :)
Heather, I would love to see that excel file! You can send it to me at maryjo@covenanthomemaking.com. Thanks! :)
ReplyDeleteI hear ya, I am going through it myself. I have a 2 year old and a 9 month old. And you know what helps me? Accepting the fact that things won't be perfect and definitely won't be like it used to be. Because its not. You have two little ones that have needs and wants ALL DAY LONG. Enjoy your kids, the house will get picked up eventually. Maybe hubby can pitch in a little. I have a fantastic husband that pitches in to help clean the chaos once the babies are asleep. Let your standards on homemaking slide a little bit and enjoy this season of life.and I also think that for this type of situation, a written schedule will make things worse. Yourkids demands while they are young will cause you to fall off the schedule and only make you feel less successful. Go with the flow girl!
ReplyDeleteJenn, Thanks. :) My hubby is wonderful. He helps a lot with the children when he's home to give me somewhat of a break, and he usually picks up the toys off the floor in the evening which is really nice. Every once in a while, he even helps with the dishes! ;) I definitely don't plan to have a rigid schedule any time soon. More what I'm going for is a time budget or a loose routine of some sort, I think. Katie is pretty predictable, but Benjamin is certainly still getting into a groove--which gets thrown off every couple weeks with a growth spurt! :)
ReplyDeleteI confess, having two children was more difficult than four. It's a huge adjustment... learning how to divide your time, especially when you want to snuggle and cuddle and tend to the needs of both and cannot.
ReplyDeleteAmazingly, it actually feels easier to have 4 children than it did to have just 2.
My fiance did the tracking thing and he says it helped because it held him accountable: he wasn't as likely to "waste" time since he would have to record it. And it also helped him not to blame himself when he could see that he really did work hard all day, even if he didn't finish anything.
ReplyDeleteBut I agree with the others: 2 babies is a big adjustment. Give yourself time and don't judge yourself too harshly. :)
I recently found Large Family Logistics. Even though it is just my husband and I, since I started using it the change has been AMAZING! If you want I can send you the details, it's SO much easier then any FlyLady or anything else I have ever seen. I am hooked and SO loving it. I look forward to my days now, instead of dreading them!
ReplyDeleteYou can email me @ joshua24.15@alaska.net and I'll send you the details. :)
It takes time to get into a new pattern. I went through the same thing when I went from having one child to 2. Now I am getting ready to add another wonderful blessing to our family and I am sure it will take some time to get use to having 3 instead of 2. I just do the best I can. As time went on I found our new normal. Only by God's grace. Its not perfect but it works for us for this season in our lives. They grow up much to fast not to enjoy every minute of it.
ReplyDeleteGod bless