Mommies need to play too!

Today I had a wonderful lunch with my beloved friends from college.  The couple of hours we got to spend together were enough to reconnect, celebrate the exciting events happening and to share some of the sadness in our lives.  It feels like forever since we had done this.  I realized that between all the kid play dates, driving to and from school, errand running, gym going, bible class attending and chore doing, I have forgotten how important it is to go play with my gal pals.  Alone.  Without the kids.  Play dates are fun and I will be the first to admit that they are just as much for the moms as they are for the kids.  The problem is that even though we are excellent at multi-tasking and tuning out the noisy monkeys, we aren’t truly unwinding.  So this week the challenge is to add friend time back in the mix.  This week I am going to make 2 friend dates for some time in February.  When my husband does this with his friends he calls them Man-dates.  LOL. 

What are your favorite things to do with your girl-friends when you get some play time?

Larry the Laundry Monster

The stomach bug visited our house this week.  Such a horrible house guest and always overstaying its welcome.  One kid gets it, and then just as they are better, the next kid gets it, and then the next.  By this time you haven’t slept in a week so now your immune system is down and you get it.  Then hubby is down for the count. I just wanted to sing “another one bites the dust” each time one of us went down.  You can see why this week I have decided to make laundry the habit of the week. 

I have lovingly named my piles of laundry “Larry the Laundry Monster”.  He grows and grows and feeds off one half of each pair of socks.  He is stinky and dirty and he is always there just waiting to devour entire living rooms.  You finish the piles of laundry on catch-up day and just when you think you have conquered Larry, you look in the hamper and realize his span has already filled it up.

So the habit this week is to do one load a day.  That is it.  Just one load.  The catch is that it has to be folded and put away.  A load a day will keep Larry away.  Wouldn’t it be nice to feel like the laundry is done for the day even though there are still cloths in the hamper? 

I have 3 laundry baskets in my closet.  One for whites, one for mediums and one for darks.  My 5 year old knows how to sort his cloths into them and the 2 year old and baby cloths get sorted by me.  This makes the load-a-day very easy because it is already sorted so all I have to do is grab the fullest bin for the day. 

Does Larry live at your house?  How do you make laundry an easier chore?

Hopelessly Devoted

This is a habit I have attempted to do and I constantly fail at it.  Daily devotions.  It seems like I should be able to carve out 15-30 minutes in the morning to spend time in God’s Word but I just don’t.  By the time I wake up, nurse the baby, get ready for the day and get the kids ready it is time to hurry out the door.  I want to do this in the morning before I make all my decisions for the day but it just won’t happen with my own will.  It sounds so simple to just get up 30 minutes earlier but that is not something I have made work.  So I am going to try a different plan.  I am going to use lunch time with the kids as a time to have a “peaceful” time with God.  The computer sits at our kitchen table so I am going to do the 30 minutes for mommy devotion on this website:
http://annaniteacademy.wordpress.com. 

My goal will be to do the 5 days during the week, starting with week 1.  I don’t want to be legalistic about it or to do it out of compulsion; I just want to draw closer to the One who made me.  Bonus – the kids will get to see me making this time a priority.

Do you do daily devotions?  If not, what gets in the way?  If you do, what are some ideas you have for fitting it in?

Snack Attack

Somehow I manage to feed my kids and nurse my baby every few hours but I forget about my own food needs.  My breakfast, lunch and dinner consists of me starving enough to finally take the time to make something for myself.  My gas tank is so far below empty so it sends an army of hunger cues to my brain.  I start eating until I realize I am full but then 15 minutes later I am overfull and miserable.  So this week I am going to work on taking time to snack.  No more holding off my snack until I get just one more load of laundry folded or any other excuse I come up with.  If it has been 2-3 hours since my last meal then I will have a snack.  I bet it will be easier to be patient with the kids because happy blood sugar = happy mommy.  I am thinking a handful of nuts, an apple, banana or orange, a yogurt, some dried figs, beef jerky or a boiled egg.  What ideas do you have for a fast, easy mommy snack?

Just Breath

Before you do anything else right now check your breathing.  Are you taking short, shallow breaths or long deep breaths?  I am usually taking shallow breaths which do nothing to help with anxiety or stress.  So this week I am going to work on taking long slow breaths all the way down to the belly.  In for 10 seconds, out for 10 seconds.  In with relaxation, out with stress.  When driving in the car (even when late), keeping the kids from being crazy monkeys, stopping the dogs from barking in the yard, looking at a huge pile of laundry or thinking about all I am not getting done, I am going to remember to breath.