Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Fit It All In!

I have been thinking for a couple of days about how I manage to fit it all in. I honestly thought this post was going to be such a simple one but then it took me this long to sit down and figure out how exactly I do fit it all in. Since there is no such thing as nap time at our house it is much more difficult than it used to be!

There came a point after B was born that I decided that I needed a stress relief; lets be honest being a mom can get super stressful! That's when I started running and working out. As his first birthday came up I couldn't stand the thought of buying all the birthday stuff, it's just not me. That's when I started scrapbooking and paper crafting again. Lately I have been trying to find time to read and blog.

I schedule workout time into our day. The gym I go has a wonderful kid zone. The teachers in there are awesome and B loves them. The people at the gym really are our gym family. If I go there without him every single person in there asks where he is!

Making the time to craft is a little more tricky for me. I get on a crafting kick and do a lot at once then don't do it again for a while. I get to send B to MDO once a week so that is helpful to accomplish a lot of things. I get the most crafting done while he is at "school" but I also craft when he is at home with me. I have figured out that if I make him something and let him craft too then we can get some crafting accomplished! I always let him pick what he wants to make. He loves to look at the cut outs on the computer if we are using the Cricut or to pick out his own paper and stickers. I turn my toddler loose with scissors, glue, stickers, markers, crayons, pens, whatever he wants to craft with! Allowing him to manipulate those things is good for his fine motor skills and I'm watching so he doesn't hurt himself or destroy anything. We have our work space that he does pretty well about staying in. We used the kitchen table for a long time but now he has his own desk just like momma and daddy's desk. I also always have some sort of activity for him to do that he can move onto if he gets tired of crafting. The activities are usually things that make him think but that he can do on his own. They are never new activities but instead activities he has done once or twice so that he can do it himself without me having to stop every two seconds to show him how or what to do. I limit my craft time to 30-45 minutes typically. If he is entertained with helping me or doing his own thing I may work for an hour. If I have something that is pressing to get finished I do it at night after I put him to bed. When I craft at night I work on it while Daddy is doing bath time then I take a break for story time and tucking in. I get back to work on it as soon as I know he is sound asleep so the noise of the Cricut doesn't wake him up!

I squeeze my blogging time in here and there. Most afternoons we have some relaxation time when B watches a movie and/or plays in his room without me. I have been using this 30 minutes to an hour for blogging time lately. I sit on the couch with him and he lays on my lap while I type on the laptop. Not the easiest way to type but it works for us!

There are other times of the day that I have been trying more and more to take advantage of too. Morning before he wakes up; if I get up around 7 I can accomplish a lot more. I don't always get up because I like to sleep in but I have been trying to get out of bed no later than 7:30. B normally sleeps until anywhere from 7:30-8:30. If I'm training to run a race then I will force myself to get up at 6 to go run before either one of my boys wakes up! I push time to limit often. If I have 20 minutes before I need to leave I will do something for 15 minutes then take 5 to clean up and get out the door. It doesn't always work in my favor but I like to push it to the limit!

I also have a sweet neighbor girl who loves to come play with B. She is more help than I think she even knows! She comes down and they play inside or outside doing whatever they want. I love that she loves to play with him as much as he loves to play with her. Sometimes she even takes him to her house to jump on the trampoline or do crafts. I consider it a luxury that most people don't have. She doesn't come every day but when she does I try to the super speed woman mom and take care of as much as possible while she is here or he is with her! Most of the time she asks to come down to play with him when she has time between her activities.  I'm sure going to miss having her as she gets older and doesn't find it as fun or have the time to play with him as often.

It all comes down to making sure that what I'm doing and want to do is in line with how we want to raise B. We want him to be self sufficient so him playing by himself is good for him. We want him to be intelligent and allowing him to explore new things without direct instruction helps encourage that. We want him to feel confident and loved. I'm not a stay at home mom to just sit at home with my child. I am here to guide him, teach him, and care for him. While I do things for myself during each day I spend the majority of my day doing things with B. There has to be balance.

Here is our latest crafting project! 
Mine-
B's- 



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