Monday, August 4, 2008

Question of the week

I am still trying to get my act together. Thanks to the guests we had invited over for the weekend barbecue, we had to clean up and organize the house. That's one of the reasons I like having guests over. Otherwise, we don't feel the urge to really put things away. After everyone leaves, the only thing to do is clean up the kitchen. Then we have a tip top, cleaned up house.

Now I need to plan for action. Planning ahead! I didn't feel the need to plan ahead this much when I was working but without a plan, a day with the kids goes waste. The same goes with cooking and shopping for cooking. I believe moms need an assistant for scheduling and planning.

I got two magazines with a calendar, Chicago Parent and Family Time. They also have online calender on their websites but having a hardcopy works better. I also use www.chicagokids.net. Since it's summertime, we can enjoy the playlots, parks and pools at the parks around the neighborhood as well. With Chicago's gas prices, I don't want to spend everyday of the week in the van. (Reminder of why we needed a second income!)

Since kids are both out of their jetlags and into their regular routines, I need to figure a way out to syncronize their schedules to optimize the daily activities. It's really hard to cater to a baby who sleeps twice and a preschooler who sleeps once a day and almost none at the same time. My daughter gets drowsy as my son finishes his breakfast and needs to get out. She cannot really sleep in the car seat or stroller. At least she does not fall asleep easily as she does in her crib. She wakes up when my son starts to get hungry for lunch.

Then my son really needs to take a nap, otherwise he climbs up the walls. Sometimes, coincidentally they take their nap together, then it's "happy hour" for me. When my son wakes up from his nap, he wants to go out and play with my husband. Sometimes my daughter needs a short nap before bedtime which means we can't tag along with them. We sit down at the dinner table together which is nice. Then everyone gets separated for bedtime routine, I with my daughter, my husband with my son. That's why I advocate putting the kids to bed early. Otherwise, I would barely see my husband as I'm closing my eyes as my head touches the pillow.

So the question remains: How do I get everyone play, go out and get their naps and lunches altogether? How do moms manage anything with more than 2 kids?

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