At the end of 2010 I had a great desire to slow down. Stay home more. Spend more time with the kids and Kevin, all of us together. Stop jumping in the car and running from here to there, and then somewhere else. My "word" for 2011 was to be slow.
It hasn't been working out too well, though. I wonder if it contributes to our household's general tiredness, the illness that just won't leave, and the crabbiness that is associated with forced rushing, yelling to get shoes, coats, hats and gloves on.
Any advice? I can't complain that we have been able to do some fun things and visit with some great people, but it is definitely taken its toll on us all. Before we had kids Kevin and I stayed pretty busy. That way of life didn't change much once we had Louie, and we stayed on that pace with each following kid. But we've always thought that it had more pros than cons.
I recently got a job. I have been looking for something part time after Kevin gets off work and I think I found the perfect place. Nice people and a fun job. I am very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to work there. Is this helping our situation at all? Maybe, maybe not. We're not going to be able to do our all-weekend trips as often as we used to. But I am hoping that being forced to stick around the house on the weekends will allow us to do things like have the kids take regular naps, more family dinners and playing games as a clan--something the kids love more than anything.
I've never been one to stick to a schedule with the kids. I know that all the parenting books say that to be successful in getting kids to eat, sleep, et cetera, they need to be on one. I'm fortunate that staying home with the kids has allowed us to be freer than other families are able to be. I don't think we'll be on a schedule now, as my brain isn't really wired for that, but things will be changing and I'm hoping it'll be for the best.
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