For the first few years of their lives I insisted (to myself) that I needed complete quiet to accomplish anything. "I need to wait until they're asleep." "They need to be laying down watching a movie if I'm EVER going to get ANYTHING done." Not only is this impossible, but it also creates another problem. If they're "bothering" me I then blame them if I don't accomplish what I set out to do. Very unfair of me, but it's true.
Cleaning is an easy one--have them help. Sometimes when I can't think of anything for them to do (while I'm vacuuming, for instance) I give them a wet wipe and set them loose. For some reason, they love getting to clean whatever they want. (Get them to clean up spots on the floor!) When they were much younger I just strapped them to me in a carrier and went about my business. Reading or accomplishing any work is a bit harder, but still possible.
I have begun to set goals for my homeschooling endeavor this year. Deadlines, if you will. At the libary we go to you get a book for three weeks. I'm determined to finish each book I get by the time it's due. Of course, I could always renew it, but I'm finding it more motivating to finish books this way. I have two books due tomorrow. And I'm only halfway through one of them. It's crunchtime.
This morning I realized I had a lot of work to do today. (And yes--it is WORK.) Right after breakfast I set up my work station in the dining room and started planning things for the kids to do. Aubree is currently engrossed in her abcmouse.com account (VERY worth the $7.95 a month--I will be doing a blog on that later) so I set up the laptop across the table from me. Raulee is a bit more challenging. She has to wear an eyepatch on her "good" eye and it's honestly hard to come up with things that she will do while wearing it.
Raulee began by playing her DS. Here, she's pouting because she lost her game. (Probably due to her poor sight.)
Since that didn't last long, I chose to let her play with beads. The first activity was very simple--move all of the beads from one bowl to another with a spoon. When she started complaining that she couldn't see I thought she may enjoy sorting the beads so I grabbed an old egg carton.
Aubree just chugged away on the computer. Eventually Raulee decided she needed to spread out the beads to see them better and they got dumped everywhere. Not a huge problem since picking up beads is great for her eye and small motor skills.
Meanwhile, I read my book and took notes. I have a few 97 cent notebooks for taking notes and I've found that doing this not only provides an easy to look at list to review when needed but it also ensures that I'm actually getting something out of the book. A big part of setting up together like this is that I'm not always 100% focused on what I'm doing. I try to acknowledge most of what the kids say. I throw in "mmm-hmms" and "yeahs" while I'm deep in thought, but, more importantly, help them when they need it and praise them when necessary. Without taking notes, I would not retain much of what I get done. When I reeeeally need to work on something for longer than this scenario provides I take the time after they go to bed to do so. Taking time away from my husband is not ideal, though, so I try to incorporate what I'm doing during the day with the children. After about an hour and a half, the kids have run off to play together in the playroom. And I have some quiet time to write this blog and throw dinner in the crockpot. (Bbq chicken-yum)
The other important part of "embracing the chaos" is realizing that you simply cannot be Supermom 100% of the time. You will wear yourself out. Your children will be sick of you and you will be sick of them. I have read repeatedly (and believe whole-heartedly) that you need to give yourself time DAILY to just be you. To engage in an activity you enjoy doing. To be a person outside of your mom role. For me, this time manifests itself just after lunchtime. I've done most of the cleaning by then, the kids have been fed, and I've spent most of the morning breaking up squabbles and answering the bazillion "why" questions they've come up with. Just after lunch, they are allowed to do whatever they want so long as they don't interupt me. I usually play the guitar or read. After a half hour to an hour I'm recharged and ready to play a game or read a story or go shopping or whatever else needs done. Without this brief intermission from mommyhood I truly believe I wouldn't be as productive the rest of the day. You know what will motivate you. Take some time to take care of yourself. It is important to not get carried away, obviously. A pedicure a day may cause some financial issues. But, seriously, take care of yourself so that you can take care of your family with a renewed spirit.
We have done mat time too. They sit on their mat (or small rug) with only a few small toys. They are not allowed to get up and the are not allowed to interrupt unless it is an emergency. We did this when the oldest two were 2 and 3 almost daily.
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