The Schedule We Can't Create..Preparing for the Next Moment

Lol!  I know I did when I came up with the title of today's blog post!  Do you try and put together a calendar or a schedule for yourself and your family every week only to change it again the next day?  Do you put a calendar or schedule together and then completely do the opposite of what it says everyday?  Do you follow your schedule to a "T" and then become stressed when a spontaneous change is made and you have to temporarily break the rules?  If one of these is you, then this post is for you!  I'm actually all three.  It may seem like it's not possible, but it is.  We as moms can put so much pressure on ourselves in addition to the pressure naturally added by everyday life.  Sure, a schedule can and should be a guide for us to follow, and helps us create a balance so that we don't feel totally out of sync.  But it's totally okay to break it and make spontaneous last minute adjustments without beating ourselves up.  I was talking to another mom in my circle of moms this morning. We talked about how funny it is that we understand each other in instances like yesterday when she sent me a text message inviting us to join them for dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant.  I didn't get the message because my phone was somewhere in my bedroom when she sent it and I was in the living room doing what I do best and managing the boys' playtime before dinner.  Mind you, I'd gone grocery shopping earlier and had planned a Spaghetti dinner.  By 6:30 P.M., I was so tired from helping my oldest son compete a craft we downloaded off the internet, we jumped in the truck and picked up burgers for dinner!  This morning, I found out my dear mommy friend rushed off to urgent care with her son and totally ditched the Mexican fiesta dinner idea!  You see?  It's easy to abandon your original plans with children.  You don't know how you will feel, how they will feel, and it's best to be prepared for, well anything.  If you don't create a schedule and simply posting the important memos like a doctor's appointment, or a school play are all that's necessary, good for you.  We all have our own normal, and there is no wrong or right way I feel to do what works best for you and your family.  The one common goal should be to have some type of direction so that you know what's happening tomorrow.  If you don't have the entire month or year etched in stone yet so be it.  The truth of the matter is...the most important thing we should try to preserve and get ready for with our children, is the next moment.
- Jantina Maria Rice

It's a New Year and...

1) I will wash, fold, and put away all clothes all in the same day
2) I will plan every meal and have dinner on the table, ready to eat by 6pm each day
3) I will keep the entire house spotless from top to bottom at all times
4) I will work out at least 5 times a week and work off all the Thanksgiving and Christmas food I ate waaaaaaaay too much of before Spring...
5) I will make sure my children read two books each night before saying their prayers and going to bed (I won't just give them a bath and rush them to bed so I can go to bed)
6) I will rise each morning before the entire house and pray (I will not hit snooze until the last minute and get up rushing to get ready)
7) I will follow the schedule that I created for myself and the entire house (I will not change it each day to accomodate my own inability to follow it)
8) I will complete every project I started, large and small this year, I won't come into 2015 saying this same thing again...
...lol...am I the only one?  Maybe we shouldn't be so hard on ourselves, after all, it's best to just take it one day at a time...

Quote for the Day

"Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."  - Elizabeth Stone

Working Overtime: Not for the Money...for the Benefits

Okay, so this Sunday morning is moving too fast.  My eyes opened to the sun creeping in through the blinds and the sound of the boys anxiously awaiting for me to get up and fix them breakfast.  I worked 12 hours yesterday and somehow managed to take them out for some recreational fun in between.  While that's the amazingness about working from home, it's the wake up call when your body screams at you that you haven't rested well or long enough.  As a PK (Pastor's Kid), it is quite strange to not be in church on a Sunday morning.  Perhaps God would be more disappointed in me if I didn't live for Him everyday, or at all, rather than because I missed a day of church?...lol.  Yet and still, I open my bible to seek His guidance and instruction for the day.  I say a prayer in my moment of weakness, asking for Him to give me strength.  I realize, these children require more of me than I sometimes feel able to give.  Their smiles, their giggles of joy, and the moments of wisdom, love and hope we share together motivate me and drive me to push onward.  They are listening when we are talking to them, and they remember when we forget.  I realize in this moment, that they need me to get up, and I will.  This is the job that never quits, does not pay with money, and requires lots of travel and that I be on call for duty at anytime of day or night.  I don't work to parent, and raise my children for the paycheck, but for the benefits.  They will grow to be great people who contribute something wonderful to this world... because today, I chose to get up.