Picking and Choosing

Right now my goals in this stage of life are 1) make yummy and delicious food that my family will eat 2) make healthy choices for myself in terms of eating, exercise, and sleeping 3) think of enriching and educational activities to do with the kids 4) take the time to teach children (anything from gospel type things to cleaning things) 5) spend the time I feel is necessary on my calling and with others I am called to serve 6) organize and keep the house clean, stay on top of bills, etc. 7) get myself dressed and looking presentable 8) spend quality time with Erik 9) keep in touch with loved ones
Unfortunately on any given day I accomplish two or three or maybe four of these goals (actually let's be honest it's never 4).  The ones I place at the front of the pack take turns, so I guess I end up eventually doing it- just never on the same day which is frustrating to me.  The days I take care of myself better (go to bed on time, exercise,  actually shower and do my hair) seem to be the days we either go out to eat or throw spaghetti together.  Days that I spend a lot of times playing with the kids are the days the house is the mess, etc, etc,  Anyway, this is something that is on my mind a lot.  I have a feeling I'm not the only Mom that feels this way, but if you have figured out a way to stay on top of it all- please let me know how :) . . . 

. . . anyway this crazy storm we had coincided nicely with a renewed desire of mine to just be with the kids and not try to "just keep them happy while I try to get such and such done"  On Saturday, all of the weather reports seemed to predict a crazy storm hitting our area.  I felt like we were prepared for the most part, but on Sunday morning I woke up around 4:00am and couldn't go back to sleep.  I was feeling anxious about the storm so I made a bunch of bread.  Because nothing will keep you safe from power outages and storms like homemade bread (??).  By Sunday evening, we found school was canceled.
Monday morning we got up and had waffles in a messy kitchen (just about the only type of waffles I know how to make- ha ha)
Anyway,  like I said earlier, staying home from the storm really brought out my desire to hunker down and have fun with the kids, so I decided each of us could take turns picking out an activity for us all to do together.  It ended up being so much fun!  It was great to just totally disregard my "to do list" and be in the moment.  We ended up doing two rounds and because I think it shows their different stages in life here is a list of what people picked: Anna: 1) playing Little People 2) eating popcorn while watching Yo Gabba Gabba. Wyatt: 1) playing "doggy and human" 2) playing Star Wars. Jackson 1)playing Star Wars 2) make the craft that Grammy sent. Me 1)read books 2)clean basement together (couldn't help myself!).

Anna loves her Little People.  Especially when we play with her and make all of the animal sounds.

Wyatt told me that he and Jackson would be the dogs and me and Anna were the owners.  You would almost think that Wyatt liked dogs by his choice of game :)


I was Princess Leia, Anna- Queen Amidala, Jackson and Wyatt were (good) Stormtroopers.  We were trying to defeat Darth Maul and Darth Vader (all to Star Wars soundtrack of course! haha)


Proud of their craft decoration

Anna looooves popcorn.  We keep the air popper on a shelf in the mudroom.  So she will often go to and say "Pop! Pop! Pop!" until I get it down.
The day ended up just being awesome.  It was a great reminder to do that more often, but the next day (with school canceled again) I sadly couldn't be the same Mom.  I had bills I had to pay, and a house that really did need a good cleaning, and errands to run.  Anyway I know for me, having a full day to play with the kids at home, will be a special memory.

As for the storm itself, we were not affected too much at all.   A lot of water kind of pooled in the backyard, and the wind and rain really lashed at our house.  However, we didn't even lose power (something I was very much expecting to happen).  I can't even imagine going through what a lot people are going through right now in New Jersey and New York (including Erik's cousins that live on Long Island).

Comments

Kaitlin said…
I'm so glad the storm didn't hit you too bad! Also, as far as the goals/Mom thing goes- for me (and I know it's different for everyone)- I've learned to sort of lower the expectations I put on myself. For me, it's just not possible to do all those things in one day and for all of us to still be happy. One day I clean a ton, one day we play a ton, most days we (hopefully) have a good dinner, etc. I just know I can't do it all and still have a happy self and happy kids. All in moderation. You're a fabulous mother and wife and you're always a great example to me!
November 3, 2012 at 7:12 AM
Molly said…
loved reading this...i think we all feel the same...you are really one amazing person jenny..loved that you had a day with the kids!
November 20, 2012 at 9:34 PM
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