Getting Organized

I am, what some people might refer to, as an organized person. I asked Brian and he agrees this is true. I am detail-oriented and like to have a plan. Unlike some people, I am not obsessive about it. There is one area to my life that I am obessesive about: finances. In that regard, everything must balance to the penny (I am not kidding about this!) or I will find it. I am the type of person who actually reads and analyzes the Statement of Benefits from the insurance company and I reconcile our checkbook to the paper bank statement. I am good with numbers and more importantly, I like them. Well, numbers associated with money. I'm not a fan of algebra or geometry.

All that to say, I am working out the organizing kinks for the fall. Both of the older girls will be attending morning preschool 2 days per week and Lily will be playing soccer this fall. Also, I plan to start Lily on some structured learning this year on the other days and want to work within the confines of an executable, written plan. I am making my menus a month at a time now so that we can save money by buying everything in bulk that we can. In addition to keeping my plans for her education accessible, I also need to maintain the household by tracking all other details. I am in desperate need of some way to keep it all straight. I have certain ideas about what I want in a "planner" and in May, I found a homeschooling-family organizer that I didn't hate. I was thrilled to see that it was published by the same people who have published the family organizers I've used for the last 3 years, even though the homeschooling version didn't do everything I wanted. I knew I could make it work.

But alas, Amy Knapp's Homeschooling Organizer has left a bitter taste in my mouth after not publishing a new one for the 2008-2009 school year and also not responding to my repeated emails (okay, two) asking begging for the new one to be made available after information on her website promised that they would be made available at the end of July.

So I have created my own organizer.

And it will live in a binder.

Very few people know how I feel about binders. Brian knows. Here is a quote from him, "Yeah. Binders. She doesn't like them. At all."

Why don't I like binders? Because they represent a collosal waste of time. Punching holes in paper to save in a binder wastes time. Oodles and oodles of time is wasted punching holes in paper that could be quickly saved by throwing into a file folder. There has never been an office where I have worked that I did not try with all my might to get the binders under my immediate jurisdiction outlawed. Binders facilitate c-r-a-p being saved that would be better served in the trash.

As a rule, I do not like binders. However, for this purpose, I see the need and therefore, the benefit of them. Binders allow information to be added and removed as is necessary. Amy Knapp's Organizer is spiral-bound. You may not permanently add any whole pages of new information and any removed information is permanently out. The set-up is a weekly calendar spread out on two 8.5" x 11". On the left page, there is an area for lesson plans and grocery/supply list (which is removable) and the right page is the weekly calendar column, a column for a To Do List and a Menu column. Before month-end, there is a two-page spread of the next month's calendar for pre-planning, I guess.

Before I started using the homeschooling organizer, I never used the two-page calendar provided in the other organizers. Now, I need about 2 or 3 copies of it. The binder will allow me, with tabs(!), to have and utilize a two-page calendar for menus and another for my lesson plans which I write a month at a time.

I am taking the best of two good things (Amy Knapp's Homeschooling Organizer and FlyLady's Control Journal) and making them into one Excellent.Useful.Product. I have (with Brian's help) already created the template for the actual organizer. FlyLady's idea to keep important information handy is a great one. Before, I had a planner and a Control Journal that I never used. Now I'll have my Excellent.Useful.Product and everything is right where I need it.

To complete it, I'll just need to get better, heavier paper that can stand to being manhandled, kidhandled and momhandled. And a funky binder. I cannot continue on with my boring yellow binder. I'll splurge and get a cool, funky binder.

Excellent.Useful.Products could be tailored to any family...

Season Of Life

I am feeling bogged down by this season of life. Life as a stay-at-home mom with 3 little ones. Having 3 children under 4 years old is so different and difficult. I don't think a lot of people understand what it's like. I was just remarking the other night to Brian that I cannot imagine how much time I'm going to have when my children can ready themselves for the day. I know I spend at least an hour every morning just getting them ready by dressing them, washing faces, brushing teeth, fixing hair and preparing breakfast. And that doesn't include feeding Reagan. That's an additional 20 -25 minutes.

I am frustrated because I can start at 5am and never get everything done that "needs" to be done.

I try diligently to get up when Brian leaves for work which is usually between 5-5:30am. Do other stay-at-home moms do this? My dad thought I had a screw loose when I told him what time I get up. If I don't get up before everyone else, I don't get a chance to take a shower. I don't get a chance to read my Bible and I don't get a chance to exercise. Doing those things are very important to set the tone for my day. But I don't want to get up that early.

I am definitely having a difficult time keeping up with everything that should be done. I can tell you the last time the kitchen floor was mopped (last month), but it really needs it at least once a week. (Toddlers are messy eaters.) I can't tell you the last time the wood was mopped and as a result, there are dust dinosaurs lurking everywhere. Keeping the house clean and supervising the girls are activities that are just at odds with each other. The activities that I have for them to do are losing their appeal and they spend a lot of time getting in trouble because they are bored. I just don't know what to do with them that is new and exciting and will keep them stimulated. Especially table-type activities.

I am a fan of FlyLady, and her method of doing things is helpful. But with 3 young children, I am just having a hard time making it work. Which makes me feel like a failure. Every day I look at the wood and realize it needs to be mopped desperately, but I just can't seem to get to it.

How do other people do it? I know I can't be the only one who has these struggles. Lily is getting bigger and bigger and is able to help more. She is able to almost completely dress herself and can make her bed. She can use the potty and wash her hands with a minimal amount of supervision.

Some people might say that I am being too hard on myself or that I am expecting too much of myself. But is it too much to ask that the floors have some attention more often than every six months? When Brian is home on the weekends, the last thing I want to do is spend all weekend at home. Of course, after he's been working all week, he'd like to spend some time at home. I don't know if my problem is a lack of contentment or boredom or what.

I live with a huge measure of guilt all the time. If the laundry gets piled up, I feel guilty. If Brian helps me by doing the laundry, I feel guilty that he has to help. Isn't that my job? I shouldn't need any help. I'm a failure.

Today, Lily didn't have any clean panties because I am behind on laundry. You can bet I felt like a huge failure. I can't even manage to keep the laundry done. As for me, no shower today so far because Brian went into work late this morning so I woke up when I heard Reagan. It's time for her to eat again and Lily is still waiting for her panties (that are in the dryer) so she is still in her nightgown. The kitchen is a mess from yesterday and I really don't want to have to go mess with.

I don't want to feel like I'm on autopilot all the time, but I feel like I am a hamster on a wheel with all of these activities. Laundry is never completely done. The kitchen is never completely clean and there always seems to be a meal to prepare. Oh, and to add to it, Brian and I haven't had a real date in about 6 months, maybe more. No babysitter.

I really could go on and on, but I think I'll stop. However, lest it seem like I am just complaining, I am open to suggestions. Real suggestions for activities or schedule changes or something. This is a cry for help.

Six Weeks In

I am finding myself unusally frustrated today. I am very nearly sure that it is directly proportional to the amount of continuous sleep I am not getting. This is a fairly new phenomenom because Reagan was doing really well...up until Friday night when I realized she had caught her sisters' cold.

Friday was a very long day....it started at 6am and it did not stop until 2am Saturday morning. After a call to the doctor on Saturday morning (a call that woke the doctor up...the doctors here actually return those after-hours phone calls), it seemed like Reagan was getting better. I think it's just a cold, not anything more substantial than that, which is a relief. Both Lily and Darcy were hospitalized for RSV before they were six months old. Reagan is still eating, albeit from a bottle, and the only coughing I hear seems to be a result of the drainage from her nose. She's been sleeping in her bouncy seat in her bed with the humidifier on and I've been attacking her nose with an aspirator before nearly every meal.

And I don't think it would be so bad if the other 2 weren't getting over their own colds and trying to kill each other and screaming bloody murder every time my back was turned. Right now, everyone is in their separate corners, including me. I could not take any more screaming and crying because one wouldn't let the other put her cookie in the oven. Or the fact that Lily was nearly concussed by a princess shoe for some slight that has yet to be determined.

I do have a schedule that I try to adhere to, but with an infant, it is downright impossible. At this point in time, utilizing FlyLady's 15 minute principles is ridiculous at best. I can hardly get Reagan changed in 15 minutes, espeically after she poops in the brand new clean diaper or spits up all over everything and I have to change her clothes twice in the process. That's usually the time that Child A will come running in tattling on Child B and in dealing with that, I realize Child B needs a spanking and a diaper change. By the time this is all finished, Baby C is asleep and is nowhere near interested in finished her meal. Rinse. Repeat.

On an up note, I am thrilled to death with myself for preparing dinner every night. Since December 1st, we have only been out to eat twice. Once for our anniversary and once to say goodbye to our babysitter and favorite waitress at Chili's. (How dare she move an hour away!) For our family, that is absolutely amazing. Brian and I have always been eating-out people. The main reason is....we are too scared to bring all the children out in public, especially in coat-and-hat weather. It's just too much trouble and not worth it. If nothing else, it has certainly served our budget well.

My next goal will be to do something with this house. I'm so busy giving emergency baths and keeping the blood flow and knots on the head to a minimum that I haven't gotten the chance to do anything but keep the kitchen clean in the last six weeks. Wait...I think I swept the kitchen once. It's a process, I think.

The New Year

Things are moving right along.

The two previous months before our visit to Beaumont found Darcy sick and at the doctor's office repeatedly. A week in Beaumont, she was right as rain. Now, sick again. Except this time, Lily and I have it, too. I'm beginning to wonder if it isn't something in the air up here that's making her sick. The doctor said that cedar is bad this time of year. Cedar? Who in the world is allergic to cedar?

I did not make any resolutions this year, just recommitments. Is that the same thing? We recommited to our budget and the first ten days of the year have gone pretty well. We had a problem that was affecting two areas of our life: money and eating habits. We were eating out too much. I mean scary, too much. I mean the wait staff knew the names of my kids, too much. And it was hurting our budget/bank account/waistlines. Stop eating out, kill two birds with one stone. The first ten days have gone well. We've only eaten out once and that was with money that was specifically set aside for that purpose. And it felt good in a way that I cannot describe to pay with the allotted cash. Of course, what didn't feel good was finding out that the trip to the doctor today cost nearly $200 instead of the $100 that was budgeted. My kids always need their shots in January, but it always helps the deductibles get met fast. But with a little "creative accounting" all is well again.

And since I am cooking more, I am personally eating less. I am actually thinking about what I'm eating. I'm not officially doing WeightWatchers or tracking Points, but I have a fairly good idea what I should be eating and I am mostly sticking to that. It's working a lot better than my usual method of eating everything in sight and wondering why I can't seem to lose any weight. In addition to "watching" what I eat, I am working out again. I didn't go tonight because there were multiple meltdowns going on and I intended to be in bed long before now. I should have just gone. However, I have lost 6.5 pounds in the first week which makes me feel good. My muscles are busting out. Now, if I could just tolerate enough cardio to slim down so the muscles didn't have anywhere to hide. All in good time, I think.

And FlyLady. Can't forget her. I am actually shining my sink. I did it a couple of times in Beaumont, but I never did it here. Now, I'm doing it here. FlyLady wrote a big long thing about not "skating" by. She said that if I wasn't going to shine my sink then I shouldn't even be a member at all!! Well, I couldn't stand for that. So, I started shining my sink. I've even got Brian doing it, too. If I could just get him to wipe the cabinets and the table, but housework done incorrectly still blesses.

This & That

It's 10am in the morning and I'm still sitting around in my pajamas. Except pajamas indicates pants of some kind, doesn't it? I don't think FlyLady would approve. I definitely don't have my shoes on...and hair and make-up done? That's some sort of girly fantasy. My bed is not made and I haven't swished or swiped anything. I hope the maintenace man doesn't decide to stop by...he'll get a big surprise if he does. For some reason, I cannot get my life organized here. I manage to look pulled together by the time Brian gets here, but only just. The girls are pretty much on a schedule/routine, but I can't seem to put myself on one. I've been doing okay in keeping the house picked up, but here, it's an absolute necessity. Taking care of myself, well, that's just another thing all together.

I have spent the whole morning on the phone with a collection agency and our insurance company. It was not pretty. The good thing is that the insurance company and I are on the same page. The bad thing is that it's not the same page as the collection agency. When I reviewed the Statement of Benefits, I realized why I haven't paid the bill. The bill we got from the hospital (and subsequently, the collection agency) and what the insurance company is saying we owe, aren't the same thing. In fact, it's about $100 off. Except I've already gone ahead and paid the bill sent by the collection agency. In addition, we received a nasty gram from the collection agency some time back for $6 that we owed for Lily at some point in the distant past. I never received a bill for that, blah, blah, blah, but I went ahead and mailed a payment to the collection agency for $6.00. Except apparenly, this account has been passed on...

This story sounded much more interesting in my head....

We went to church last night. Their Fellowship Suppers last from 5:30pm until church starts at 7:00pm. That was really nice. The food was really good with huge portions and it was cheap...$2/a plate. One of the things that I liked was that the pastor told the entire church on Sunday that the ladies that did the cooking and meal prep did not need to be doing the cleaning up. The deacons and men needed to set an example and help clean up. And Brian did. The more that we go, the more that I like it there. Brian still wants to visit other churches, but somehow that seems wrong to me. We would definitely be challenged here and I think that we need that.

Brian and I are getting new cell phones. Brian's brother works for T-Mobile in Plano and he is getting us great deals. Brian is getting a free Blackberry and I am getting a pink Razr. Brian laughs at me because he knows that I hate pink. Now before anyone gets their hackles up wondering how anyone in the world could possibly hate pink...it's just not me. That's for girly-girls and I am definitely not a girly-girl. But I like things that are different and how many cell phones do you see around that are pink? With the free phones, it's either pink or silver and I just don't want something that everyone else has.

Yuck! I just had to kill a cricket in front of Lily and not act like I was totally creeped out. I have an unhealthy, irrational fear of grasshoppers (not like the pickle girl on the Maury show...which, by the way was on this week!), but enough that screaming and flailing will occur if I see one. And in my opinion, crickets are closely related. It's enough that I'm completely neurotic...I don't really want to pass that on to my girls!