1. On weekends or other free mornings, your kids inevitably wake up at an unearthly hour, making it difficult, if not impossible, depending on their age, for you to catch a few extra zzs.
2. Conversely, on school mornings or when they have to get up by a certain time, your kids are sure to be groggy and crabby as you drag them out of their beds.
3. Your child rarely gets sick, but as soon as you have an important meeting or event, she’s down for the count.
4. Though he’s been constipated for days, your baby has an outfit-destroying blow-out as soon as you’re in public.
5. Similarly, your preschooler, who swore up and down she absolutely did not have to go to the bathroom before you left the house, declares that she’s going to wet her pants while you’re in the middle of checking out at the store.
6. Even though you look to make sure the kids are busy before you make that important phone call, they track you down like mosquitoes to warm blood and demand your immediate attention just as you’ve finished saying, “hello.”
7. The toy that your child hasn’t so much as glanced at in months is suddenly being mourned as his “favorite” the day after you pitch it.
8. Everyone is busy and content; however, as soon as you close the bathroom door, they’re frantically pounding, in dire need of your assistance.
9. The new toy you painstakingly picked out for your daughter’s first Christmas is infinitely less interesting than the box in which it was packaged.
10. The tissues you carefully and pointedly placed in your son’s pocket to combat his runny nose will invariably be replaced by a much faster and handier alternative — his sleeve.
Got any to add? We’d love to hear ‘em!
Sarah is the mom of four lovely and precocious kids, fraternal twin girls and two boys, and a freelance writer. She’s excited for summer vacation to start because the lack of tight scheduling is much more conducive to her scatterbrained nature, as are the late hours.
* This entry is cross-posted at Parenting By Trial and Error.
This is a cross-post from my blog. I thought people with larger families could most certainly relate!
One of my secrets to happier motherhood? Make your bed.
Or keep your dining room table clear. Or sweep under your dining-room table regularly. Or make sure your dressers aren’t overstuffed with clothes so they don’t shut all the way. The point is, all of us have that one thing (or half a dozen things) that drives us crazy. Whether yours is crumbs on the counter or rooms where half the lightbulbs are burned out, taking care of your biggest crazy-makers (BEFORE they get to the point of making you crazy) sets the whole mood for the day.
For me, that one thing happens to be making my bed. I used to roll out of bed in the morning, look at the rumpled sheets and blankets and think “eh, what’s the difference? I’m just going to be messing it up again in 15 hours.” But I spend a lot of time in my bedroom, even during the day, and I found that every time I went back in, the sight of that unmade bed made me feel…slumpy. It made the house feel messy even if the house wasn’t particularly messy. It made me feel disorganized. And every time I sat on the bed (like I am now with my laptop) I would feel like crawling under the sheets and going back to sleep.
I’m far from being a neat freak, but I began to realize that I require a certain level of cleanliness in order to function. I spend most of my day in my home, and if it feels too messy or cluttered I just want to retreat and watch bad TV instead of being productive. I also realized that it pays to stay on top of mess by constantly straightening up instead of saving it all for some mythical 2-hour stretch when I’ll be able to do a big clean. So four or five years ago I started making my bed every day, as soon as I could after waking up. What a difference. It took a couple of weeks to really get into the habit, but soon I found myself looking forward to making my bed–it feels like tearing out a fresh sheet of notebook paper, clean and crisp and full of possibility. Now, no matter how the rest of the house looks, my bedroom is a neat and pleasant retreat. When I go to bed, it’s so satisfying to pull back the smooth covers instead of climbing into a tangled mess of sheets. And it really makes a big difference in my mood.
I have other “must do” chores, too. For example, I really like my bathroom to look clean (with four boys this means wiping down toilets at least daily) and it’s important to me to have a clean kitchen sink (which I realized after doing FlyLady many years ago). I also Can. Not. Stand. to have couch pillows and throw blankets all over the living room so I stop a few times a day to toss pillows back on the furniture and fold blankets. I call these things my “triggers”—I’m actually crankier to my kids and anxious when my sink is messy or there are sofa pillows on the floor. So I try to stay on top of it through the day—and it all begins with making the bed.
One note, though: I have my older kids do a lot of chores, but I almost never put them in charge of my “trigger” tasks. It’s too important to me that they’re done right–not to mention promptly.
Do you have housecleaning “triggers” that can make or break your mood? What are they? How long did it take you to figure them out?
–Meagan Francis is the author of Table for Eight and writes regularly about her family here.
I love my clothesline. I really do. For some reason it is therapeutic to me to hang clothes out to dry. Maybe it is the sunny, breezy days. Maybe it is my kids running around as I hang. Maybe it is the connection I feel with generations of woman who have all laundered the clothing of their families. It just feels good to me. That “all is right with the world” feeling when I hang my clothes out on the clothesline.
My family is living, temporarily, on a military base. It was nice when I first peeked out the back window, of our base housing, to see the playground located so close by. But when the poles of a clothesline were spotted, it was pure joy! All it needed was some love, that love would come in the form of a new line to hang the clothes on and we would be all set! A clothesline. That settled it. This would truly be home for the few months of residing here.
So, with a new line set up, all that was needed was some sunny weather. Finally, we are getting days of sunshine here and there. I take advantage of them by hanging clothes out to dry. And it didn’t take too long for me to notice that I am the only one who hangs my clothes out. Our neighborhood is laid out in a circle, so the backyards all face each other. This caused my to consider why I hang my clothes out and how I can do it in a way that is not obnoxious.
Here is what I came up with. I hang my clothes out to dry for the nostalgic reasons mentioned above, but also because it is free to hang clothes out on a line. It saves electricity. It saves electricity in two ways, first the dryer isn’t running as much and the air conditioner isn’t running extra to compensate for the extra heat the dryer creates. This may or may not be an issue for others, depending on where a dryer is located. For us, that is an issue.
Since my clothes are visible to numerous neighbors, I try to hang the nice looking things toward the neighbors-my cute sheets, the towels and spiffy looking white t-shirts. That way if they look up, they don’t see my old ugly t-shirt hanging there. I place the less attractive items on the line behind the nicer looking things. It does not always work out so well, but I aim for this. And I don’t hang out personal items. They don’t need to see my boys underoos or my husband’s boxers-just because I think they look cute on the line, doesn’t mean others would think the same.
In the times we live, when money is tight, especially for those of us with larger than average families, and environmental resources can be limited, using a clothes line to dry the majority or even part of one’s laundry can be a good solution. It might not work for every family. Some housing developments have regulations against clothes lines, some living situations don’t provide a space for hanging clothes to dry. But it is worth considering for those who can use a clothesline. It is a responsible choice economically and environmentally.
*It should be noted that it is not a great idea to leave clothes out on the line when the neighbors are grilling, unless you like your laundry to have that “just grilled” scent. Yes, this was learned from experience.
heather@http://becoming-becoming.blogspot.com/
For a variety of reasons, we are moving back to Chicago this spring. That means I’m once again looking for housing for myself, my husband, our four boys and now baby Clara. (No pets…yet.)
We’ll be renting for at least a year, so this isn’t a permanent decision by any means. Yet a year can seem like a long time when your home just doesn’t “work”, for whatever reason. Because we’ll be living in a city with a fairly high cost of living, we’re going to have to make some sacrifices, which means deciding what things are must-haves, and what we can live without.
I mused aloud on Twitter that I wasn’t sure whether to rank location above size or vice versa, and got passionate responses on both sides of the debate. Some people are adamant that I’d lose my mind unless we have plenty of space to spread out; others argued that being in a good location is the #1 most important thing. My kids will be using the public schools, so I’m limiting my search to areas with good ones. Within those areas there is a lot of variation between more “fun” neighborhoods with lots of parks within walking distance and easy access to shopping, and neighborhoods that are more spread out and further from common areas but have bigger lots. So I’m trying to decide whethe we’d be happier with a larger private yard or being closer to community parks.
As far as square footage goes: the space aspect did seem important at first, but then I got to thinking. When we lived in a 2000-square-foot home with four bedrooms, one of the bedrooms was NEVER used unless we had guests. Right now we live in a house that’s probably closer to 1400 square feet with three smallish bedrooms, and it doesn’t seem too small at all. The only real issue is that there’s nowhere in the house the kids can go let off steam without me hearing them yelling; but I think that’s due more to the layout than anything. The staircase to the second story is open to the living room, and the bedrooms all open to the staircase, so there’s no hallways or anything to muffle sounds. A separate family room, or preferably a finished basement would be a great “kid hangout” and lower the noise pollution on the main level.
Then there’s the bathroom thing. In theory I know we’d be better off with as many bathrooms as possible. Yet we’ve lived the last 8 months with one bathroom and nothing bad has happened. In fact, last weekend our one toilet got backed up while we had houseguests–a total of 10 people in the house–and it took 12 hours for us to get it unstuck. It wasn’t the end of the world, though my sister and I did have to take kids in carloads to McDonald’s to use the facilities.
Number of bedrooms seems pretty unimportant too. Right now the kids’ room assignments are fluid things; the boys meander back and forth between the two kids’ bedrooms depending on who they’d rather spend time with. Clara sleeps in our room and probably will for another year at least. On the other hand, it sure would be nice to have a fourth or fifth bedroom to use as an office, guest room, etc. Nice…but is it necessary? Or would it sit empty like our fourth bedroom used to?
If you were looking for a home today, how would you prioritize? What can’t you live without? Do you have a set square footage in mind, or do you think layout is more important? To your mind, is the more space the merrier, or do you prefer cozier quarters? Is there a number of bedrooms or bathrooms you absolutely need? I’d love to hear about it!
–Meagan Francis is an author and mom of five. She writes about her family at her blog.
Now that summer vacation is looming, I’m being faced with the prospect of making three meals a day for four children, one of whom is extremely picky. It stresses me out just thinking about it.
I’m not a cook at the best of times, but trying to come up with creative, easy, fast meals that all my kids will like every day during summer vacation is difficult. The standards right now are macaroni and cheese, pizza (frozen and homemade), spaghetti, soup, sandwiches and tacos. When I try something new, at least one of them complains and only eats a bite or two.
So, here’s my challenge to you: Do you have any great, kid-friendly recipes that are fast and easy? That’s a lot of requirements, I know, but if it takes a lot of effort, I won’t do it. I’ve always said that if I could have my choice between a housekeeper and a cook, I’d take the cook a million times over. This feeling has only been reinforced by picky eaters and multiple complaints when I do actually spend time on a new dish.
Please, take pity on a clueless cook and post your recipes here. We can all benefit from new ideas!
Sarah is the mom of 10-year-old twin girls, a 6-year-old boy and a 5-year-old boy. She works from home as a freelance writer and blogs at http://ParentingByTrialandError.com.
* Originally posted at http://parentingbytrialanderror.com
I’ve got a great thing going these days, with the homeschool schedule, girls-in-school schedule and my work schedule all lining up just perfectly. I can even swing most of the sports and other “extra” schedules. I’ve just realized this week, though, that in another 5 or 6 weeks, … Everything. Is. Going. To. Change. And that, frankly, scares the living daylights out of me.
My oldest - there’s really no problem there. She’s nearly 16, and has her entire summer schedule all planned out - to the hour, I think. And most of it includes being at camp for several weeks, and two other week-long trips. We’ll be happy just to see her tired little face - and smell her mountain of dirty laundry - once in a while.
My almost 14 year old, though. Wow. What do you do with a not-terribly-social 14 year old boy? He’s been spending my work days with his grandparents, which has been AMAZING for him, but they will be moving back to the cabin for the season soon. If it weren’t for track season being in full swing, I’d be tempted to send him along with. He doesn’t have a ton of friends, he’s not keen on volunteering, and while he does a good job hanging out and entertaining other kids when he needs to, he doesn’t do so great of a job at it with his younger siblings.
Which brings me to the younger siblings. I’m looking at day camps and summer programs at the YMCA (where I work) and even with my staff discount, any program X 3 is just really …. kind of expensive. I’d like to at least break even with my pay check, you know? Bringing home some income is kind of the point of my working, really. But, I’m still looking at it all and haven’t made any decisions yet. It’s just more than a little anxiety-inducing right now!
So you parents-of-many who work — what do you do for summer childcare? Help a girl out here, please!