Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Time, Again...

Pardon the noise while I drag out my soapbox again to stand on. I realize that there are times in our life, seasons, if you prefer, that it truly doesn't seem like there is time to get anything done -or started - or completed. But to whine about not ever having time to do anything...oh, just get over yourself! Obviously, I've talked to someone who has used that statement with me. And knowing this person, I just don't have that much sympathy for him/her. Not that I have a hard life. On the contrary, Scott and I talk many times about our cartoon life.

I have a 6 year old son in school and a 1 year old daughter at home with me. My daughter is quite a handful - or two. I was working away from home when my son was a baby, so I treasure this time with Hadyn very much. However, there are the times that I would just like to have a break. There are many, many times it feels like I can not get anything done because she needs me, has to have me, clings to me. Scott works full time for the church and part time teaching guitar (and some time working on computers) and isn't available to me all the time, then I have Hunter and our next door neighbor here after school, but I still manage to get some things done.

Yeah, I know, I just have the one at home during the day. What about the mom's with several at home all day and husbands who travel all the time. Well, some of those mom's would have some choice things to say to me but some might say the same thing that I will say now: pick your battles.

I try to keep my house picked up and neat. It's not perfectly clean, but it is neat. I don't like clutter. But I can deal with dust for a while. I don't scrub my baseboards every day, I don't clean out shelves or grocery shop every day, but I will mop, sweep, and/or vacuum almost daily because I don't want to add the battle of crumb-eating creepy crawlies to my day.

I clean out my kids toy boxes and closets at least every six months to keep their clutter down and not to overwhelm them with things. I clean while I prepare meals to avoid the huge pile of stacked pots, pans and dishes later. I also try to put away dishes when they are done so there is no clutter there. Laundry, even with just the four of us, can get away from me if I let it, so I try to keep up with it by doing it all two to three times a week, depending on the need. Then occasionally I will drag a dust rag over everything, and then I might do a deep clean on one room a day or week, depending on the day or week. But I don't stress over it all and where to find the time to do it. I just do it and it becomes part of the day, the routine, the expectations.

My children are learning to pick up after themselves - which is good so they'll know that little tidbit in the future. It's slow work, but for this season of my life, this is what I do. When I find myself starting to stress over when am I going to do something, I have to slow down, breathe, and remind myself that time comes and goes and I have to pick and choose how I spend my time.

Right now, I am spending my time enjoying my baby, teaching both my son about being responsible for his things, keeping my house neat -not perfect - but neat for my husband and myself to be able to enjoy being at home and to enjoy being with each other.

So there is time if you choose to find it. And to my friend who doesn't have any time...I can watch your kids for you for a couple of hours to open up some time for you to do something that you need to do. There is nothing but time. Choose it wisely. Okay, I'll put the soapbox away now.

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