chocolate + paper + scissors

6.29.2009

Chocolate on a Monday morning

I'm officially entering a new zone...I've decided to eat some chocolate this morning to jump-start my week!

I'm also huddled in a corner at the local bookstore with a cup of hot peppermint tea...and celebrating my new quiet time on Monday mornings, while my mother stays with my little ones. My daughter was so excited to know that she would be able to play with her gran "all by herself" while brother sleeps...and it validated my thought that just as we moms need a break, so do our children. They definitely need some outside stimulation.

Hooray for that!

I'm trying to get into a groove with a schedule for my blogging, which has been difficult to do this year. My daughter will be four in August, and my son is almost nine months, and I'll admit that it's taken me this long to finally feel like I can care for my children and keep life organized in our home - not perfectly, but it is doable. Finding time for myself, however, has been a true challenge since October (which I hear is very common after having a precious, chunky, toothy-smile second child come into one's life).

The current economic slowdown has brought me some time - as I haven't had any freelance writing projects since January. It's really been an adjustment, since I've been so used to having some sort of deadline to keep me on task. (Deadlines really help with this!) But, I've had more time to spend with K and A...and I'll admit that I am officially a stay-at-home-mom (who still likes to work when it comes around).

It's a hard job, this household manager business. I used to be highly competent at executing all kinds of tasks when I was teaching - teachers are multi-tasking geniuses! For some reason, though, it's taken me almost four years (yeek - four!) to come into my own for organizing our home life: nurturing, cooking, cleaning (house, clothes and tiny, untidy bodies), motivating, organizing, procrastinating.

Yes - somehow, "procrastinating" snuck up there on to the list, just like the pesky mosquitoes that bite me in the summer air when I'm not looking. Let's see: still haven't completed my thank-you notes for the arrival of my precious son...in October. It gets added to my to-do list every week, but it never gets done. Why is this? My theory is: when I don't have time to myself, I use procrastination as a retaliation to the world of very time-consuming tasks. (Although thank-you notes are lovely and necessary - and they used to be a favorite thing of mine to do, before having children.)

The other day I felt as if I had ADD - I couldn't get anything accomplished - my brain was in lockdown mode as the kitchen was a wreck, A was crying, K was dumping tiny colorful beads on the wood floor in the other room, and I was sleep-deprived from staying up late and waking up twice with A in the night.

But, a little time to myself always makes everything better and clears my head: writing, running, sleeping...it's all necessary!

So, cheers to all you mothers out there who are a little bit burned out this morning. Don't forget to take care of yourself! At this time, I'd like to give some props to Mojo Mom for her insight and her exceptional book, Mojo Mom: Nurturing Yourself While Raising a Family.

I highly recommend it for every mom, new or experienced. It's never too late!

In short: let's keep it real, ladies. Just take care of yourself.

Happy Monday...