Another reason why I hate the time change

For the few weeks, it has seemed as if getting the girls out of the house and into the car has been especially inefficient and I couldn’t figure out why. We used to have our morning routine down to a science and were always out the door on time and at school with time to spare without rushing. However, to my great puzzlement, the last few weeks have seemed increasingly rushed and time seemed to fly as we went from house to car.

No matter how early we left the house, we were still later than usual at school. It was really beginning to frustrate me as I hate being late and could just not understand what it was that was slowing us down. Then today it hit me. We weren’t late, our clock in the car was fast. I don’t know about you, but often after the clocks have been changed, whether forward or back, I have to make small adjustments to our clocks a few times to get them all relatively in sync. Well, turns out that the clock in the house was correct, but the clock in the car was about 8 minutes too fast. One would think that this was not a big deal, but for someone who only has 2 hours and 30 minutes to herself in the morning while the girls are at school, 8 minutes is a big deal.

I am glad I finally figured out why there was such a time discrepancy as it was frustrating and now I feel relieved to know that we are in fact on time and even early! Now I can stop stressing about the time. I will make sure I do a better job of changing the time on all clocks in the spring.

I need a break!

The past few weeks in our household have been nuts. With my husband on a business trip one week, my trip to Blissdom Canada the following week plus various school meetings and networking meetings thrown into the mix, organizing our schedule was nuts! These obligations were in addition to our regularly scheduled routine and trying to juggle the logistics have been exhausting.

I need a break. I need one week in which all we have to worry about is our regularly scheduled routine. The beauty of routine is that it becomes second nature. You don’t have to think about it. You know where your kids are, you know who is picking them up and that is it. No coordinating caregivers, no piece meal solutions, no stress. It just runs as usual.

I had the tools and the ability to make it work and our household ran like a well-oiled machine despite the absence of one or both of us. I do not, however, have the stamina to keep this going. I have also noticed my children being affected by our absence. Very rarely do we have someone other than me or my husband put the kids to bed. In the past few weeks, bedtime routine has been done by my sister or mom at least twice a week. This has lead to a more difficult time saying goodbye at school and saying good night. When I start to see my usually happy children become more clingy and sad, I know it’s time to take a break.

I have had enough and will take a break from over scheduling myself. I missed my children when I was at Blissdom. I admit it. I missed snuggle time, their stories, their dancing. I love hanging with them and being there for them. Blissdom was definitely worth it but I am glad to be home and getting back into our regularly scheduled programming.

They say these days that kids are overscheduled but what about us parents? How can we keep the balance in our lives? I think the first step is recognizing the need to change. Now the challenge becomes learning to say No to some of the great opportunities that are presented to me. I must be strong, at least for a little while, and take a break. Wish me luck.

'Tis the Season to be exhausted

I don't know about you but I find the holidays exhausting. My family celebrates both Hannukah and Christmas and my youngest is a December Baby. Even though I usually have all my Christmas shopping done by the end of November, I find the month of December to be especially crazy.

This year I have spent weekends on planning Juliet's 1st birthday party, decorating the house, sending out Christmas cards, wrapping presents, getting new products into production, and we have yet to get a Christmas tree. That's on the to do list for this weekend. It feels like there is no down time.

Don't get me wrong, I love this time of year. I love decorating the house and now that Ainsley is older we can all get excited about Santa's visit. This year, I will be getting my tonsils out too so I will either get more rest due to this surgery or it will make the whole month seem even more hectic.

Add some sick children into the mix and I look forward to a more relaxing January. Maybe a few snow days are in order so that we can all stay home for the day and hibernate.