Another busy day here at our house... PH and PK2 are out running multiple errands, PK1 is at school, I made a grocery store trip for WIC after dropping him off and got PB down for her morning nap when we got home from that. I also got all of the bills we've gotten for the month so far set up correctly in our online bill-pay account. (Have to rejoice in each accomplishment!) Now I have a few minutes of quiet before it's time to go pick PK1 up, so I'm making a list of everything else I need to get done today.
- Clean and cut celery
- Assemble tonight's dinner so that it's ready to go into the oven
- Peel and shred carrots
- Bake carrot cupcakes for tomorrow night's parent-teacher conferences
- Take meat out of freezer for tomorrow's dinner
- Clean out the refrigerator
- Check the status of the sauerkraut I started last week
- Clean the kitchen top to bottom
- Wash diapers
Will I get everything done? Probably not. Most likely, I'll prioritize and make sure the most important things get done (like washing the diapers), and at least start the other things, or add them onto tomorrow's list. Getting an entire list done has been virtually impossible since PB was born, with frequent nursing breaks added to the distractions and interruptions PK1 and PK2 already supply... But I do what I can, and I firmly believe that our kids will have a richer, happier life if we spend time with them than they will if I'm constantly shoo-ing them into their room to play so that I can check off everything on my list. On my bulletin board in the kitchen, I have a poem printed out that I saw on Facebook awhile back, and when I'm discouraged by not getting as much done as I'd wanted to, I look at it.
Dear Lord~
It's such a hectic day,
With little time to stop and pray.
For life's been anything but calm,
Since you called on me to be a mom.
Running errands, matching socks,
Building dreams with building blocks,
Cooking, cleaning, and finding shoes,
And other stuff that children lose.
Getting lids on bottled bugs,
Wiping tears and giving hugs.
A stack of last week's mail to read,
So where's the quiet time I need?
Yet when I steal a minute, Lord,
Just at the sink or ironing board,
To ask the blessings of your grace,
I see then, in my small one's face,
That you have blessed me all the while,
And I stop to kiss that precious smile.
