I live at 402 Cranberry Hill Drive on a quiet street, in a quaint neighborhood.
The suburbs were Moms look picture pretty and still bake homemade cookies, pet owners walk their dogs with plastic baggies, groomed yards, husbands work shirts always pressed, tidy homes, children are raised on Mozart and eat all daily fruits and vegetables required. Kids sell lemonade and chase the ice cream truck.
Twas the start of summer for my children this week. I am the kind of Mom that lives for summer, I look forward to fun, a little learning and a lot of play. Oh, did I have a cheery vision planned...
8:00 Breakfast
8:30 Family Pow Wow (family group discussion, song, prayer and spiritual insight)
9:00 Grooming and Rooms
10:00 Chores
11:00 Mom's summer school program
12:30 Lunch
1:00 Activity or outing (something like hiking, swimming, sports, music lessons)
4:00 Social time (kids play with friends)
6:00 Dinner
7:30 Family walk to the park
9:00 Kids bed time
The reality of this schedule did come together, but not in the organized way it looks on paper.
My day starts right away and I feel lucky if get a shower in, dressed with hair and make up done before noon. Finding 30min of workout time is precious if I can get it, those 20lbs of baby fat I need to shed may just have to wait!
Breakfast. With a new baby my morning schedule revolves around Preston, I use to get up at 7:00am and start breakfast- this has become a rare occasion. Now it's fend for yourself.
Family Pow Wows consist of the pre-teens Chandler and Alexis rivaling for the position of power, eye rolls, kids that can't keep their hands to their selves.
I feel certain I sound like the teacher on Charlie Brown "WaaWaaa WaWaaa Waaa Waa" when I speak.
Chore time seems to be when the wicked witch flies in and the nagging begins to get household chores completed in a timely manner and done right. By the end of chore time I feel ready for a nap. It's more work to get kids to work than to do all task thrice over myself.
Our family walks sometimes mean chasing our dog Cidra, who escapes out of the back yard at times for her own "field trips."
At times laundry sits in the dryer wrinkling for days until I remember it's there and forget ironing. I send my husbands dress shirts out to the cleaners. I sometimes leave dinner dishes over night to tend to my young baby instead. I get my kids to lessons and bed late and a few times we have even had dinner at 8:00.
Needless to say after this week I am reevaluating my parenting priorities and the vision of my perfect summer, bye bye. The sweat pant Mom's I never understood. I have now stepped foot into her world and have come to realize I just can't do it all. My pride, perfection, vanity and glamor has taken the back seat for the time being. It's more important to let the less important things go and to embrace more meaningful time and moments with my kids. The challenge will be finding that harmonious balance.
Over Whelmed Sweat Pant Mom-
