Back to Normal

Don't panic, the title is misleading. How can we be normal when we've never had a normal life with two children? Point is we're getting back to what we know is normal and making room for new routines that are needed.

We've been back to Bible Study twice now and I'm slowly getting back to my other routines (tweaked of course to include "the boy")

I have a list of goals for each day.

1-Shower, dress, hair, make-up, brush teeth. Tiger doubts that there could be a day in her life when she would forget to brush her teeth. (She's five months pregnant) Now, maybe she'll prove me wrong, but most mothers I know have had their days.

2- 2 loads of laundry a day. Washed/dried/put away. My original goal was one load but I'm finding we need two loads done.

3-One load through the dishwasher. To be honest I haven't touched much of the kitchen since "the boy" was born, Mr. Sloth has taken care of that if it's gotten done at all.

4- Clean sink. Same as above.


Those four basic things make peaceful life possible. I'm still doing my night routine which is setting out clothes for Demand and myself. At this point dressing the boy is just a matter of grabbing something out of the drawer. I've added a new goal of having Demand dressed with diaper changed and teeth brushed before heading down to breakfast. This became a goal yesterday when I realized that Demand's morning diaper wasn't changed until 11am. So sad. The rest of the night routine includes picking up Demands room and playroom, general pick up of the upstairs and gathering stuff for the next day.

I'd say today was the first official day that Demand has been better since being sick, and she was delightful. Whew! So it looks like her attitude issues were more sickness than new baby or even just "another stage".


Among my other goals I've recently been inspired by a Catholic blog to be more present to Demand. "The boy" has plenty of attention, but now is an important time to be present to Demand. Anytime she'd asked "You play with me?" I'd stop and evaluate what I was doing. Could I stop and play? Was I doing something necessary or just needed? Keep in mind, I enjoy cleaning. So if I'm in the middle of folding laundry and Demand asks to play I could easily say "In a minute". Ugh. It's only been two weeks but I'm so sick of telling Demand "In a minute", "After I do this", "Maybe later". Since there really are so many times when I have to say no due to "the boy", I need to try and say "yes" when possible.

For example. Demand got a new book from "the boys" Godmother and asked if I could read it to her. Without thinking I said "In a minute". Then I stopped, realized I could take a sip of coffee and put away a few dishes in a minute, for now I could stop and read to Demand. It felt good.

I know it's not possible to do this all the time but to stop and do it once or twice a day makes a difference. Today I stopped paying bills online to play with Demand and her Princess sticker book. How can you not when you hear, "Momma? You play with me?".

The moral of the story is that we're starting to settle into a new set of routines, and I need routines to function. Tomorrow we're going to a childrens consignment store to buy clothes for our ginormous daughter and new son. Hopefully we'll have some luck and find some good deals. If anything we'll be getting out of the house, which is a nice change of pace these days.