I declared September the month of simplicity. The month to get “on a schedule”. The month we’d potty train! The month I’d finally settle into being a mother of two.

So, here we are. Half-way done with the ninth month of the year, and how are we doing?

Well, for example, today I realized I had been watering the blueberries out back for, oh, three days or so.

Plus or minus 24 hours…

I can’t really be sure…

Awesome.

It was one of those weeks. Ever have those? Where you just can’t quite remember where you put your brain, and you’ve over-scheduled yourself to the point of exhaustion. By the end of the week, instead of having the pristine, organized house you planned, every room is a disaster….

That was never the intention. Promise. And yet, that’s my reality. I can’t help it. I’m a glutton for social interaction. Let me give you a run down, just so you can get an idea.

Side note, my days are organized into two times: Ante-nap (AN) and Post-nap (PN). During nap, I try to catch up on anything and everything (cleaning, reading, sewing, sleeping)….but if I’m really honest, I browse facebook for an hour and then frantically try to get all that other stuff done.

Monday:
AN- Lu’s 2 month well check
PN- Watch Abbie’s twins

Tuesday:
AN- Library story time
PN- Angie over for dinner, because she was in town for a conference!!

Wednesday:
AN- MOMS group at Church
PN- Belly dancing class (yeah, you read that right!)

Thursday:
AN- Walk
PN- Consignment sale in Portland AND intro to Bee-Keeping class

Friday:
AN- Mommy and Movers playgroup
PN- Nothing, because Daddy will finally be home for the weekend!

Phew! If this is what I meant by getting “on a schedule,” schedules exhaust me. Do you see “get house in order” or “potty train” penciled in anywhere? Perhaps “cook dinner” or “clean bathrooms”? Nah, me neither.

Lesson learned last week: calm the heck down!

There were definitely some things that were a joy. I always love watching Abbie’s Little Ones, and Angie’s visit was way too short. However, here’s the reality: by Thursday, we all had a cold. We attempted way too much. I had to ditch almost everything from Thursday morning on (minus bee-keeping class, which I’m so freaking excited about, more to come).

Maybe in your world, that little list doesn’t seem like a lot. But with two babies (who also need time to eat, sleep, and poop), we were moving at practically break-neck speed just trying to keep up. That, my friends, is absolutely unsustainable, and not even any fun. The girls (myself included) get grumpy. It’s too much car time, and not enough snuggle/eating/playing-at-home time…Emphasis on the eating.

Turns out, eating is important. For all of us.

Problem is, individually, I enjoy all those things. And so does Mo (at this point Lu is really just along for the ride). The library has got to be Mo’s most favorite place in the whole, wide world.  And her recent shyness exhibited in our playgroups shows me that she needs that peer interaction now more than ever. I need the MOM’s group. Truly. My children need a sane mother, and being around other moms once every two weeks helps maintain that sanity. Same goes for belly dancing. Yes, I did just say belly dancing = sanity. Don’t judge. 

So, what to do…what to do? 

For real, I’m looking for suggestions. If you have kids, what do/did you do? Is there a magic number of activities per week? Should I decide day to day? Follow the girls’ lead? How do I find a good balance?

I’m all ears. Well, eyes. Because I’ll…ya know, read your response… Or you could call me! Phone calls are nice too! (Caitlin, stop sounding so desperate. You’ll scare the nice readers away…)

Anyway.

I can sum this whole post up with: poor me. I just can’t choose between all the wonderful (free) social opportunities I have for myself and my children. 

All things considered, if that’s my biggest complaint right now, then my life is pretty dang good.

As I write this lighthearted post, I am acutely aware that there are many people very close to our family who are hurting awfully bad right now (more on the reason later). And so, let’s end with cute kids photos, ok? May this innocence and silliness give us all a reason to smile tonight.

Bug eyes!

“Read me a book, minion!”

She recently learned the word “puppy” and now that’s what she says when she smiles for photos.

Puppies + Cute Kid = Smiles