Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Busy Week

We are in the middle of one of THOSE weeks... You know the ones - you're so busy you don't always know if you are coming or going.  The ones that involve vehicle swapping or taxi duty swapping.  The ones with meals on the run.  It's that time of year when school, sports and special events all overlap.  We're running to and fro between t-ball and softball practices, baby showers, wedding showers, piano lessons and the list goes on.  So, how's a family to survive?  Here are few things I've learned through the years.

1)  Be careful about making commitments/Manage your responsibilities:  We haven't always done this well, but I like to think we continue to learn.  At the beginning of this school year we had our children drop out of some activities.  They weren't very happy about it, but it was what we felt was best for the well-being of the family.  As this softball season approached, we carefully considered what we thought we could handle and what would be best.  This meant stepping down from coaching for my husband. 

2)  Plan ahead:  try to give thought to meals, snacks, sleep, transportation, etc. to try to avoid dropping the ball on anything.  When schedules change we have a tendency to forget something, so we put extra effort into planning ahead.  One of my current goals is to have us take water bottles with us whenever we go out in case errands take longer than expected.  We aren't very good at it yet, but we're working on it.  I also try to find easier meals for this time of year.  One of our favorites is quesadillas - you can change up the ingredients and if you don't fill them too full, they're portable.  I don't have time for baking this week, but next week I'm hoping to get back to making muffins and granola bars for healthy snacks on the run.

3)  Take care of yourself:  pay attention to your body.  I struggle with allergies at this time of year, so I'm working hard to manage my symptoms so they don't turn into a down-and-out infection.  We're trying to get more sleep to be better prepared for the busy times.

4)  Celebrate Completion of Commitments:  one of my responsibilities comes to an end for this school year on Friday.  I'm excited!  Not because I didn't enjoy it.  I did enjoy it and I'll probably do it again.  But it's okay to be happy about the upcoming break!

5)  Keep things in perspective:  remember this is just a phase.   We only have 5 1/2 more weeks of school!  After this weekend's wedding, we don't have any others coming up for a while.  Things will start slowing down.  This crazy time won't last forever. 

6)  Evaluate things that can be cut out:  This week, we'll watch less TV and spend less time on the computer to be sure we're giving enough energy to our other commitments.  And with that, it's time for me to go; I have lunch to make, cards to write, dishes to wash and the list goes on - Bring on the craziness!

2 comments:

  1. good stuff!! So glad you shared your wisdom!

    ...and, how did I not know you had a blog?!!? Following now, though! ; )

    ReplyDelete
  2. ...awesome advice and suggestions! We are right there, right now!

    ReplyDelete