Results have been mixed this month, as with all the months that have gone on before. :) Some things are going great. My kids have had their hair done nearly every day and my big kids have taken home lunches to school every day.
So, packing lunches is a big victory for us. In part due to the fact that I paid $0 into a lunch money account, forcing us to make those lunches every day!
I have loved refocusing my attention on making the little acts of service I do special for each child. Just today I picked out a jacket for one daughter who needed it, and I remembered her new favorite color from the day I asked them about their favorite things.
Are you ready for some excuses? I've also hardly slept for 2 and a half weeks now, as baby learned to crawl out of his crib (prompting an emergency floor mattress placement), then caught a cold, and my three year old has been having bad dreams. I've been getting up probably anywhere from 3 to 7 times a night, and serving as a human binkie the other half of the night. (I go back and forth about being ready to give up nursing) Yet I've tried to enjoy it, snuggling with little ones and realizing this isn't forever (please?).
We've also been adjusting to a crazy new schedule that nearly gave me a panic attack one day. I've been so busy as we've readjusted to activities such as dance and soccer. I called my mom and my husband one day, wondering what I should do. I don't believe in being super busy (on top of that, I really hate being busy!). I think kids need time to play. And it's so hard to eat healthy when I'm busy. And when one kid is busy, all of us are, because we have to shuttle that one child around. This has been the hardest thing for me to have a good attitude about.
Three things: 1) I prayed about this months focus before I chose it, and now I can see God's foresight. In part because of what I'd have to go through with getting up at night and our new schedule. So I'd look at them in their proper light with a decent attitude. 2) I'm deciding that after simplifying as much as possible, I need to make the best of our crazy schedule, like finding ways to make it more pleasant, ie, listening to children's audio books in the car. 3) While focusing on acts of service, its ironically been easier to know when to step back and let my children do something for themselves.
Overall, great month, I feel this huge welling love for my kids, now I just need to figure out how to get some sleep!
How do you handle it when your little ones get up in the night? Which acts of service are easiest for you? Hardest?
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