I am not sure about y’all but this week has been insane! Our first grader is working on a school project, we had Halloween and just a few small extra things like bringing food to my Bible study and violin lessons. A really cool experience was that my son and I got to go to the World Series game! Our team lost but it was still very fun. The game was the same night as Eva’s violin lesson which meant my husband brought Eva and the twins to violin. I am happy to report that it went very well and the twins sat on his lap to quietly watch Eva’s lesson. But we have just had quite a bit going on and it’s made me feeling very behind. I have only woken up to jog once this morning and with a 10k race coming up, that has me a bit worried but I know it will all be okay.
It has been one of those weeks where there is something to do every day of the week (except one) which can make me feel very behind at home so I really try to take a step back and have time to slow down. The hard part of that on a week like this is that when I do take a step back I do not even know where to begin because there is so much that has been pushed aside. In a home of four little kiddos and us parents, everything piles up fairly quickly. I am going to need to time block today so that I can prioritize what needs to get done in each area. The most important things to tackle today are laundry (not just washing, but also folding and putting away), dishes, grocery shopping, catching up on an overdue order and scheduling content. That is a lot to catch up on and squeeze into for this one day but I do believe it can be done!
On a day like today I really need to remind myself of how God sees me and that my relationship with him and my own family is not based on performance. When things get this chaotic in my mind I start to feel like if I had planned better then we could have avoided it. Which there is truth to, but the balance is living in that truth of doing things different next time and not letting the enemy make me feel condemnation for being a busy mom who doesn’t always get it all done.
I am going to share with you a few things we do to help our school mornings run smoothly, this may sound funny considering I just shared how behind we are this week. But since we have not been doing them, I can see how important they truly are. And not doing them has helped me realize how helpful they truly are!
- Jack and Eva make their lunches the night before. When we started school this year it was my husbands suggestion to have Jack and Eva make their own lunches, and at first I was hesitant but it has been so helpful! Eva is one of our pickier eaters and having her make her own lunch gives her a sense of excitement for the day. The kids have expectations that fruit and/or vegetables are included and it’s not all just snacks; we are involved in the lunch making process but they are the drivers. I do have to admit, at the end of a busy day I am tempted to just get the kids in bed and tell them I will make their lunches, but it truly is worth it the next morning to just have their lunch made! I think that this is also what has encouraged the twins to want and make their own lunches, Elizabeth is 4 years old and making her own peanut butter and honey sandwiches so I am sure next year when they are in kindergarten they will be excited to be making their school lunches with Jack and Eva. We have these bento lunch boxes from Simple Modern that we love!
- Lay out clothes the night before. On a good laundry week I have the kids uniforms all washed and put away in their room, but as I have shared this is a week we have fallen behind on things so the clothes have been in the dryer or still in a laundry basket. It is very helpful to find their clothes and set them out the night before. This way when the kids wake up they can put their clothes on without having to sift through the laundry themselves. We let them know at the beginning of this school year that the routine is to wake up, brush teeth, get dressed and then come down stairs. Last year we had them brush their teeth right before leaving and having them go all the way upstairs then back down before leaving felt like a lot of opportunity for goofing around and getting distracted as we were trying to get out the door. But last year that was the routine we had already established so breaking it was so hard! We took this new school year as an opportunity to start a new routine with getting all of those things done upstairs before even coming down.
- This one may sound obvious but it is getting to bed on time myself, so that I can wake up early and get some time to Bible study before the kids wake up. I do not like waking up when the kids wake up because I feel like I am starting my day behind. I prefer to wake up and have time to myself to refresh with scripture. The tough thing is that on a busy week is when I need time with the Lord the most and somehow it gets pushed to later in the day, or listening to the Bible while making lunches (because we didn’t have the kids make them) and that is not always as fulfilling to me. I will say that it is better than nothing because God still reveals things to me and speaks to me when I listen to the Bible, but I much prefer to sit and read it so I can highlight or notate what He says to me.
I know busy weeks happen and that we will get back on track. But for the rest of today I will be breaking things up into one or two hour blocks to try and catch the house up and getting my work caught up so that we can go into our weekend feeling less chaotic. I pray that if you also have had a busy week you find some time to reset and if you have any tips for keeping your house in order on a busy week, I would love to read them below!
Blessings, Ellen
*as an Amazon associate if you purchase through the links I have provided in this post, I will receive a small commission and I am grateful for your support of my small business.
