Juggling Life
November 30, 2012
“I’m losing my mind!!” I shouted in frustration as I rummaged through the house trying to recall the “safe place” where I had put several important forms that needed to be signed and returned to school the next day.
“You’re not losing your mind” Ethan said sweetly, “You just got lots of stuff to remember!”
Yes, mommies have lots of things to remember from where Barbie’s clothes were seen last, to what kid needs to be where at what time, homework and projects for school and, of course, where important papers are and making sure they make it back to school on time. Lately things have been so crazy and busy I’ve been having trouble keeping up with everyone’s schedules and trying to find time for other important things like taking a shower and finding time to sleep!
Let’s see … the last time I posted a blog was on the first day of school. It is now the last day of November and before we know it Christmas will be here! I was thinking last night about how much I missed writing and wishing I had the time and energy to post on my blogs more frequently. I guess it’s kind of like exercise or studying or anything else – you just have to MAKE time. If you don’t’ block out a time in your day to write the days and weeks (and months) fly by and it never gets done. I’ve found that every year of your life time goes faster and faster. When I was a kid the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas seemed like it drug on FOREVER! As an adult, I start having anxiety attacks the day after Thanksgiving as I look at the December calendar and realize I need to be careful not to blink or it will be Christmas Eve!
About a year ago I decided to go back to school to get my MBA. I had always said that I would NEVER go back to school, but here I am at 40+ years old taking classes and learning new things. I have to admit I have enjoyed the classes, but keeping up with reading, studying, and writing papers while working full time, raising four kids, and being a pastor’s wife has really been a test of my juggling skills. Juggling the responsibilities of a mom is kind of like real juggling in that you will drop a ball here or there, but you just have to pick it back up and try again. So here I go … picking back up the dropped ball of blogging and trying again. I hope to post a few times before Christmas with stories of from the past few months.
There really have been a lot of funny stories and fun times and I need to write them down before the get lost in all the other clutter floating around in my mind. It’s amazing how I can’t ever remember that “safe place” where I put things, but I can still remember all the words to The Brady Bunch Theme song and the Big Mac advertising jingle from back when I was a kid. You know the one I’m talking about …. “Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun!”
I guess if I think about it that’s really why I started blogging in the first place. I wanted to write down all the cute stories and fun memories of raising our kids so I wouldn’t forget and so our children could share these stories with their children. When I think back to my childhood I know that I may not remember very much about when I was in preschool or elementary school, but I have lots of memories of the stories my parents told about my childhood. I have shared those stories with my kids and they love hearing about the time my brother, sister and I thought we could fly like the “Bugaloos” on TV and started jumping off of dressers trying to test our flying abilities. Or how we used to fight over who had to sit in the middle seat with the hump … remember when cars had “the hump seat” in the middle which had absolutely no leg room?
I hope that my kids have lots of stories and happy memories to share with their children someday. I also hope that they don’t’ remember a mom who was losing her mind, but a mom that loved them more than anything in the world!
Santa has Elves, Mommy has Amazon
January 13, 2011
Emma and Ethan were constantly obsessing over Santa’s list. “Mommy, am I on the naughty or the nice list?” they would ask me on a daily (and sometimes hourly) basis. They wanted to make sure that they were being “good enough” to make the cut. I have to admit that it often worked to my advantage … you know, using the threat of the naughty list when they wouldn’t go to bed, clean their room or take out the trash. “I have Santa’s cell phone number and email address – don’t think I won’t tell him about this!” Drew would play along even though he knew Santa’s real identity. Whenever he would talk about Santa he would use air quotes and say things like, “Yeah ‘Santa’ may not bring you that game for the Wii if you aren’t nice to Mom. He’s watching you … always watching you.” A few days before Christmas I asked Emma and Ethan what they thought Mommies had to do to get on Santa’s nice list. Ethan said, “Feed your kids and be nice to them.” Emma thought a little longer and added, “Well, you might want to clean up this house a bit too.”
Raising four kids, working full-time and being a pastor’s wife doesn’t leave much time for house cleaning and it leaves even less time for Christmas shopping. I am not a big fan of fighting the crowds and the traffic either so when I discovered Amazon.com I was in heaven. Being able to shop from the comfort of my own home, in my P.J’s, anytime of day or night was like a dream come true. I was able to have the kids make their wish lists on the Amazon website and then easily buy the things they wanted. I also had the option to pass the list along to Grandparents when I ran out of money and/ or when they needed gift ideas for the kids.
When I would see the UPS driver coming down the drive it was like seeing Santa coming in on a giant brown sleigh. I didn’t have to drive through crowded parking lots or walk through snow and rain. It was so much easier and quicker that I ordered 95% of Christmas online. When it came time to wrap presents I discovered yet another benefit of shopping online … boxes. Yes, I had boxes, boxes and more boxes from Amazon and they were perfect to use for wrapping awkward gifts like Pillow Pets and to use to wrap Wii games and DVD’s so that it wasn’t too obvious what they were by the shape of the package.
On Christmas morning the kids were excited to see all the beautifully wrapped presents under the tree and even more excited to open them and discover the gifts they had asked for inside. As they were opening gifts Drew asked, “Wait, when did Santa start shopping at Amazon?” and winked at me. Luckily Emma and Ethan didn’t hear the question or seem to notice all the Amazon boxes lying around the room. However, if Santa’s elves ever went on strike I’m sure Santa would be shopping at Amazon too!