In the Swing of Things

These photos are from back in January. One of the wonderful things about mild winters is being able to enjoy the outdoors more frequently.  The kids love playing outside and I feel bad not taking them out more often.

I really need to get back into the swing of things, pun intended as this post is flooded with some swinging photos. Being a stay at home, or work at home mother is exhausting yet extremely rewarding.  I love that I am so involved with raising my children but I swear some mother’s must be superwoman.  How is it possible to juggle everything?  I haven’t discovered that answer yet.

My two children, very much alike yet very different, one loves to swing, one hates to swing.  This particular afternoon, Nathan was making Teagan laugh hysterically while swinging.  He would push her then let her come crashing back into him, knocking him over.  I am going to let the rest of the photos speak for themselves. I’ve written about this dilemma before but am writing about it again because I still haven’t come up with a solution.  But as I was saying, about trying to get in the swing of things and figure out how to balance each component of being a woman, a wife, a mother, a business owner, etc.  For example, I find that I could spend all day trying to keep the kitchen clean but I would neglect everything else.  If I let the kitchen go just a little bit then I find myself giving up the cleanliness of the kitchen altogether.

I have so much on my mind and I know I am not the only person feeling weighed down by responsibilities but boy does it stink sometimes.  The majority of our mornings, I focus on medications, treatments, breakfast, minimizing crying, and cleaning the kitchen.  It is a blur.  I am lucky if I had the chance to change out of my pajamas before Jay goes to work.  Now I am forcing myself to change real quick before coming downstairs because by the time I finish everything listed above it could very well be 11 am.

That doesn’t even incorporate giving the kids any quality attention.  I often don’t remember to eat until I feel lightheaded.  There is just no room for “me” in my daily routine.  And that is a very bad thing.

I’m not looking for a spotless house.  I am looking to have a house that we can live in.  I don’t mind having toys around, but I don’t want toys everywhere.  I need to develop and maintain some system of organization because the disorder makes for a very chaotic daily life.

I don’t want to spend the entire day cleaning, skipping out on bath time, letting my husband watch the kids, so I can fold and put away laundry.  Bath time won’t be around forever but when else am I going to squeeze in laundry, especially with kids who don’t nap?

I often suffer the consequences of repeatedly putting off tasks, accumulating late fees, etc.  I feel like I should be more like a preschool teacher to my kids, constantly interacting, scheduling activities and crafts, playing with them and not just being in their presence.  The only time I get any sort of business done is when the kids are in preschool or with their grandparents, like today.

I’m not sure when or even if I will ever get into the swing of things and I’m not sure an answer even exists.

And this last photo is for laughs.