Flex Time

My time at home is constantly “flex time.”  What I mean is that I’m not only working flexible hours (also known as: in the middle of the night or 5:00am) but that my day — and schedule – are always shifting.  Hence the need to be flexible.

I hear from a lot of moms on the email about how they make it all work.  I think its hard to find what works for you and your family without at least a little trial and error.  A schedule is definitely something to strive for, but its important to not be TOO rigid either.  Some days Owen doesn’t cooperate (mostly on a day that I REALLY need him to take a nap, when I’ve scheduled a conference call for instance.)  But there have been countless days where he HAS cooperated — a nap right on cue at 11:15 just in time for that 11:30 call — that I really can’t complain.

We have a schedule, more or less, for the week which includes 1) work time for me 2) play time for Owen 3) housework and occasionally 4) dinner for my husband.  I think being flexible with the schedule (both when it comes to work, and with Owen) has helped keep me sane. 

I also have learned to be more flexible with the day-to-day household stuff.  Like cleaning the bathroom for example.  I was a die-hard-once-a-week-on-Sundays bathroom cleaner up until 2 1/2 years ago.  But my husband works every other Sunday and so we’ve adapted.  Now I’m a once-every-other-week-when-my-husband-is-off-to-watch-Owen bathroom cleaner.

It works for us.

For me the key to getting (and staying!) organized was a schedule that worked for us, that changes when circumstances dictate.  I’ve learned to roll with the punches.  I think if you’re a working, stay-at-home mom, you have to!

Here’s a quote about Yoga that I thought was relevant for today!  Thanks for reading!

Today’s Baby O’Blog Quote:  Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.  ~Author Unknown

Working at Home: The Constant Struggle

Someone sent me an email “forward” about a week ago…it started out looking like it might be a joke (as in “ha-ha funny”) but it ended up being of those “ain’t that the truth!?” type emails. 

The wife/mother says to her husband that she’s tired and going to bed…on her way she picks up the toys and clothes off the floor, sees a button is off a sweater, pulls out a needle and thread, sews it on, etc.  The husband says, “I thought you were going to bed…”  She says, “I am…”  but then on her way she stops in the kitchen, empties the dishwasher, cleans the counter, etc. etc. 

This goes on for awhile…you get the idea.

At the end of the email is a note, something like, “send this to 10 women who do it all and then some every day…”

The constant struggle for me (for all of us, really!) is being CEO of the household on top of working at home.  Making it all work day-to-day can seem overwhelming at times.  My secret: I take help where I can get it (and if someone offers to do something for you – I suggest you TAKE THEM UP ON IT!) Its the little things like my husband asking me if I want him to go to the grocery store or being invited over to my sister’s for dinner.  Every little bit helps.

If you don’t have anyone nearby that you can call on for help from time to time, try looking for a Mommy & Me or playgroup at your local library.  Ask around.  If you attend Church, look at the bulletins and see if there is anywhere you can begin to meet people with kids about the same age, and socialize. 

If you can start to build a network, the struggle just may become that much less constant.

Today’s Baby O’Blog Quote:“I do the very best I know how – the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.” Abraham Lincoln

Less Structure! More Play!

Remember that commercial where the busy family was trying to schedule just one dinner with each other?  As they reviewed schedules they finally got to the 4 or 5 year old who had to consult his “toddler” palm pilot to see what day would work?

Its crazy!  And now the American Academy of Pediatrics is weighing in….they are saying something that all parents should know instinctively, but somehow they need reminding:

STOP SCHEDULING YOUR KIDS!  LET THEM JUST PLAY!

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/parenting/10/09/children.play.ap/index.html

When I was a kid, the summer consisted of riding your bike, exploring the neighborhood and finding friends to play with.  One memorable summer my friend, Dee, and I tried to “break” the record for the number of completed frisbee throws.  To this day I’m not even sure if such a record exists, and certainly back then (before the age of the Internet) we didn’t really have any way to check on that (at least quickly) by ourselves.  But we didn’t care.  Day after day we stood on the street and threw that frisbee back and forth to each other, sure that we would somehow break the record that we knew must be out there.

I think the problem is that even if you WANT to let your kids just “do their own thing” its hard to find other parents with the same philosophy.  In the article the one mother laments that she’d love to give her kids unstructured play, but who would they play with?  All of their friends are structured to the hilt.

We plan on letting Owen create his own world.  We might try to sneak in some piano lessons, but other than that, we want to give him lots and lots of free time to explore, create, fantasize and play.  If you’re not sure where to start yourself, pick up a copy of Harold and the Purple Crayon. 

Today’s Baby O’Blog Quote: “One night, after thinking it over for some time, Harold decided to go for a walk in the moonlight.” Crockett Johnson, from Harold and the Purple Crayon, first published in 1955.

Say It ‘Aint So…Christmas in October

Today while visiting a local hardware store I could hardly believe my eyes.  There – a full THREE WEEKS BEFORE HALLOWEEN, mind you — were aisles of CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS.

Really, this has gotten out of hand.  I’ll give you Christmas in July (why not?), but Christmas in OCTOBER?  PLEASE!  At least give us a chance to shake off the summer before cramming Christmas down our throats.

Personally, I think only a few select stores should be allowed to sell Christmas stuff before Thanksgiving.  Like the Christmas Tree Shops for example.  If you want holiday paper in October, head over there.  Or, better yet — buy it the day after Christmas and then save it all year…you can wrap in October, or September or even August if you want to.

For me, three months of “holiday cheer” is a little much.  Actually, a few weeks of Christmas is plenty.  And I think there are others out there who would back me up.  A couple of years ago a local radio station starting playing Christmas carols in early November.  There was such an uproar that they stopped and waited until after Thanksgiving.  (If memory serves, they claimed they were trying to get a “jump” on the other stations.) 

Clearly, folks want Christmas when they want it — and its not in October.

Today’s Baby O’Blog Quote: “From a commercial point of view, if Christmas did not exist it would be necessary to invent it.”  ~Katharine Whitehorn