Easy as 1..2..WTF!?!

     With all the chaos sure to follow any mom on a daily an hourly basis, sparing a little time for yourself is very important. But sometimes we mom's get put on the back burner because we want to make our families happy. Not that seeing our families happy doesn't make US happy, but a little 'me' time is often disregarded for soccer, church activities, dinner, laundry, and the list goes on and on.  What's more, men! I mean no disrespect because I wouldn't trade my wonderful husband for all the gold in the world (and it's peaked on trading highs right now! lol)... Sometimes, men can be more demanding than a room full of children!

     So what is a mom to do? Well, first, PRIORITIZE! Make a list of the things that you know must must MUST be completed and set a time limit. Don't put, "clean the house" -- it's too broad a task. Instead, break it down into smaller, easier to complete tasks, like, "Load the dishwasher, fold the laundry, vacuum the living room, vacuum the bedrooms, etc etc. This way, you can look at your list more often, mark off tasks more often and feel like you are truly accomplishing your tasks, which in turn gives you that moral boost to keep going.  And when you realize that the 30 minutes you allotted for folding that one basket of laundry only takes 10... You've got 20 minutes of me time to take a short walk, turn up the radio for a few minutes or even, *brace yourself* ---- take a shower!  Little time allowances like that is how I fit my me time in -- it's a true lifesaver.

     The second thing I've found that really helps is a dry erase board, bulletin board or even a white poster board.  If you use a dry erase board or bulletin board, it's easier, but I've managed with a poster board numerous times when chaos decided to stick it's crazy head in my door and hang around for a while. The purpose? To help you stay somewhat organized on tasks with the kids, dinners, activities, family time, Dinner date with hubby, etc.  You can use post-its for easy maneuvering of tasks, or color code with push pins or magnets. You can customize it for chores for the kids, messages that you need to remember (just remember to put it high enough that no toddlers will make wonderful art with your important message... yes, Kanon, I remember!). 

     Third thing that is a true lifesaver.. The slow cooker! For when you need to get dinner going but you have so many other things creeping up on your dinner hour. Put your meal in the slow cooker, go about your day, and when you think you're about to go crazy, you can relax knowing that dinner is done!

     There are many more ways to establish a little order and routine in your day. The number one thief of time is procrastination. I have committed time suicide on more than one occasion, but I have figured out that if I don't give it to him, he can't take it from me. So, start out small. Baby steps to getting your life in order.

Helpful hints...
1.) assign chores to children and enforce them.  8 and up can wash the dishes fairly well after a little lesson in it. 5 and up can clean a bedroom and 'tidy' their beds. After all, it's mostly toys and they end up in the toy box when you clean it, too!
2.) a five year old will look at the vacuum cleaner with eyes bright and joy in their step... How dare us mom's rob them of that joy. (Plus it keeps them busy while you do something else, so what if it isn't perfect vacuuming!)
3) make time for your kids at least one night a week to let them help you cook.  Kids love to help and they can truly make meal time seem less of a task and more of a joy.
4.) Men have hands and feet and fingers... and Thumbs. This means they can do anything mom's can do when it comes to house work.  If there is laundry to be washed, dried or folded, dishes to be washed, hamburger meat to be cooked or tea to be made, I am almost certain that unless they are blind, they can do this. My husbands back is BROKEN, and he manages to surprise me every day with doing a household chore. And for that, I love him even more!

5.) Realize your limits. You can't do everything in one day, no matter how hard you try. Prioritizing your list is a sure way that the important stuff gets done, the mild stuff can, and the mediocre stuff can fall as a top priority tomorrow. Keep a tablet of paper nearby for when you remember something that needs to be done or if something didn't get done today, you can write it down. This does two things. A.) You can begin prioritizing for tomorrow and B.) You won't forget it!  It's not procrastination if you ran out of time, it's procrastination if you filled that time with something else.

6.) Put your phone on silence while you are working, turn the computer speakers down and the monitor off and don't think about what you have to do tomorrow... Think about today, the task at hand and how much better YOU will feel when it's done.  Encourage yourself. If there is something you really want to do (cause it's so much more fun), finish what you're doing before you partake in the fun stuff. Work hard, play harder!

I know these will seem petty to some, but for me, they are my living, breathing, religious rules that I follow. It's my daily dose! A house, a husband and 4 kids... and we are doing alright!

Until tomorrow,

LaVonda