Now there’s a question all parents must ask themselves. But seriously, how do people ever have time to do anything when they have children? I am constantly in amazement when I hear people rattle off the activities they are planning for the weekend – playdates, birthday parties, swimming lessons, dinner with friends – sometimes all in one day! I can’t plan more than ONE activity per day that involves taking my children somewhere and being with other kids. It is just too much for them. Actually, even one activity per day is sometimes too much.
Both Charlotte and Wolfie are intense personalities, who sometimes get overstimulated and, since neither will take a nap (or even a rest) then, the inevitable happens, a breakdown of some kind. Now that Charlotte is 4 she is better at just coming up to me and saying, “OK, I’m done here, let’s go home.” And she means it. And she means right away. Generally, though, I just try not to pack too many activities into each week.
This is not to say that these kids are not busy. Far from it. They never stop. Even though we are at home – or, out by ourselves – they are intensely involved in everything. I think this is great, and the fact that my mom and dad are around most days really helps me accommodate the demands the kids have for attentiveness from an adult, but it sure is tiring, and doesn’t leave much time for me do some of the things I would like to do. For example, I am pretty much resigned to the fact that my sewing machine is not going to get much use in the very near future. However, I have hopes for a turnaround in the medium term.
What about knitting? Well, I’m trying, and I have had some success there in that I have managed to make 3 hats in the last couple of months. Hey, that is pretty good considering! But, I have to say I get a bit crestfallen sometimes when I read Amanda Soule’s blog. The woman is amazing and I completely love and admire her. She has time to knit, sew, write crafting books, maintain her blog (with photos!), make bread, all while raising AND homeschooling four kids (including a 1 year old). Trust me, she is awesome. I did read on her blog that she wants everyone to rest assured that she doesn’t really “do it all”, she has just made choices. For example, she works on her projects when her kids are asleep; she doesn’t believe in spending time keeping her house super-clean; and she chooses to work on her projects rather than do other things like watch TV.
OK, here’s me:
Kids sleeping time – daytime N/A; nighttime, Wolfie wakes up every 2-3 hours, both kids like to get up REAL early, as in anytime between 4am and 6am. So, “kids sleeping time” really needs to be mummy’s sleeping time too seeing as kids are quite uncooperative on this front.
Time wasted by attempts to keep super-clean house – also N/A. My house is not super-clean. I think the house in Peepo! is cleaner (mummy is washing the windows – on the outside no less), although I would venture to say my house is somewhat tidier, only because I pick up toys off the floor in order to remove tripping hazards.
Time spent watching TV – OK, I do watch some TV at night, but I almost always try to do something else at the same time. However, I have found it hard to read or knit and watch So You Think You Can Dance at the same time, although I have indeed tried. But, it is kind of a watching show rather than a listening show.
Hmmm, OK, so I guess I’ll have to keep looking for my missing time. I’m sure it will eventually turn up. Hopefully I won’t be so tired that I can’t use it by the time I find it. In the meantime, at least I have Amanda to be inspired by!
Posted on December 5th, 2009 by Justine
Filed under: Mothering | 2 Comments »
