There are days where I struggle to find a balance....a balance between my commitment to my children, my dedication to my children and my love to scrapbooking....and the dreaded household chores.
It feels that everyday....I am walking a tightrope and trying to find a balance. A balance between working 3 days a week and having 4 days to keep the household running. It isn't easy...during the days that I work....I have to menu plan and usually cook ahead so that I am not too stressed and don't have to think about what we are having for dinner. At work, I cook for O, clean his nursery, do his laundry and tidy up after him and generally do a lot of fun things with him...but while all this is happening....I can be sure that when I get home......all the mess will be waiting for me.....waiting for me to tackle it....waiting for me to delegate chores etc. Everyone is more than capable of cleaning up but they don't see the mess that female eyes see....so them unwashed glasses on the bench is ok....after all....they are going to use them later....and crumbs on the kitchen bench...nothing wrong with that either because someone is bound to come along and eat again and make more mess. No need to make beds....after all it will just get unmade tonight. They have tons of excuses!! It is just endless!!!
Don't get me wrong...I am very very blessed to have two older boys who will help with the chores. Actually....they do a lot around the house.......they clear the table after dinner and do dishes. Once a week, they give the place a good vacumn (as in they move furniture).....and during the week, I will just vacumn up the crunchy visible bits on the floor. And since they are boys...and only boys make mess on the toilet....they do the toilets too....each boy gets a toilet to do once a week. Midweek....I also spray and wipe..........tee hee.....at least having to clean toilets means that they are more aware of the mess they make. When related to balance....my two six foot boys are on one end of the seesaw and the 5 year old is on the other......the 5 year old is a tornado!! Actually....pretty much a typical child.....he likes arts and craft and leaves his table in a huge mess....he goes through 10 dvds before he finds one he wants to watch....he will pull out 10 books to read and then leave them on the floor.....he plays with 20 toys at once....and have I mentioned matchbox cars???? Deadly weapons!!! He's also into golf....so we have a mini putting mat in the dining room.....and rogue golf balls. Sigh!!
And another thing that I struggle to find a balance with is me time and time with Joseph. He knows I love scrapbooking and sometimes he will watch tv or play games and then I scrap away happily in the same room with him....but there are times when he is just plain bored and he wants to play poker or other card games...and this is usually when I am in the middle of a layout I have to finish. I admit...there are times that I am sooo engrossed in scrapbooking that I get annoyed when he wants to chat or play games.....there are times when I don't even want to go to bed!! I get annoyed.......he leaves in a huff....and I feel soo guilty afterwards.
How do you find balance between work, family, scrapbooking, household chores? Give me some tips please!!
About Me
- Ruey
- Hat Juggler - currently juggling wife, mother, scrapper, cardmaker, artist, couch potato, googler hats, and if that wasn't enough...decided to buy her own online scrapbooking boutique Kiti Q hat to juggle. But boy....does she have fun juggling or what!!!!
2 comments:
Ruey, the only way is to make time for it. Set a time frame for each & every area. But most importantly STICK TO IT :P
Tat's what I'm doing now between SB, Jnr, X-stitch & TV (LOL!!!) SB = Fri nite to Sun afternoon. Jnr = revision 1hr, quality time 30mins, every wkday nite. X-stitch = 2hrs, every wkday nite. TV = Tuesdays for Charmed(1hr) and Sundays for Oprah Primetime (1hr) & CSI (3 shows, 1hr @). Sunday nite is also for Jnr's revision & quality time.
The rest of the time? Free & easy lor. LOL!!!!
Yes, at 1st it's very exhausting. But once you get the hang of it, it's a piece of cake *wink wink* Sometimes you mite even find urself with more free time than ever. Kool!
It shud be more productive with you being a part-time SAHM *giggle*
I'd be a lousy person to give you advice on this topis actually. The only time the word BALANCE is used is on my layouts.
I do think that you are already doing a great job. And I always tell friends who struggle to balance work and more household chores, is to lower your expectation. SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE. You can't have your cake and eat it too. If you can live with certain things in the house not done, good. If you can't, then delegate, delegate, delegate, and don't expect them to do it up to your standards. Close would be good enough.
Or teach your sons how to cook! That's a great thing to learn. Or help prepare... like cut up chicken, or peel and cut potatoes, stuff like that. When you cook, get them to stand right next to you, and you give LIVE lessons. You get cooking done, you are bonding with them, and they are learning something new too! Eventually they might even take over cooking!
Only then will you have more time for your scrapping and Joseph. If I had children that old, I will not be in the kitchen for more than 3 times a week. They will be making tea for me, folding the clothes up after laundry, and putting them away. But that's another 10-12 years away.
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