Mothering Many

Do you know that people make messes? And many people make many messes? And would you believe that I do not function well in a mess? I just can’t seem to think around it! And then it is just too overwhelming to try to clean it since I can;t even get my brain to function. And I get mad.

So tonight, I was unreasonably angry for no discernible reason. Oh, I had five different things I could “blame” it on, but none of them quite fit that unreasonable level of angry. And then I realized what it was. Over the weekend, we had done some laundry and not had time to fold it. So, I had stashed it in my room. In the floor. In the middle of the floor of my ONE CLEAN ROOM. I make it a point to keep my room clean so I have a spot that I can think and work, and I had let that get violated. And my bathroom was a mess, too! It took me about 20 minutes to deal with those clothes and the bathroom, and you know what? It was as if I had given my anger magic diet pills. It was gone.

Now, if I could just spread than cleanliness to the rest of the house, life would be grand.

You know the great thing about an elliptical. You move and groove and burn calories and get great thighs. The bad part is, you don’t actually GO ANYWHERE. I’ve been talking about how life kinda feels like that around here lately, and how I am trying to fix it.

Since we last chatted, I have indeed worked on a schedule, though it is not yet complete. I’ve also been offered the opportunity to work this Sunday. To snatch up the extra hours or to take a day of rest as planned. It’s a dilemma. Kinda feels like taking one step forward and 2 steps back. Which would make life more like a stair climber than an elliptical, now wouldn’t it?

Today, my children are scattering to the four winds. Or at least in three different directions. So, because I can, and because I need it, I am taking today as a quasi mental health day. This means I do what needs to be done and as little else as possible. It also means I plan to make up some sort of schedule to get my life done in six days a week so I can take a day off on Sundays to enjoy my kids, my flowers, my books, my life.

I used to have a good schedule and the kids and I all liked the routine. I got out of it when I went to work in February and we’ve all been rattling around at loose ends since. It’s time to figure out how to make this new life plan work for everyone, instead of viewing it as a series of writhing snakes on Medusa’s head. Right? There is no dieting for the to-do list, and I can’t get it to open it’;s mouth for nuphedra. Therefore, it’s time to work smarter, not harder. Not that I can avoid working harder, so perhaps that should say work smarter, not LONGER.

I’m thinking, as I sit here drinking soda and eating pork rinds, that it might be time to go back to an old habit. I used to post a menu plan to go along with the famous Menu Plan Monday Meme, and that really worked well for me. I’m thinking it might be time to get back to it before all of us need to invest time in researching which are the most effective diet pills. After all, how long can one eat pork rinds without beginning to resemble the animal from which they came? So, it’s menus or a stairmaster for us, and the menus are much much cheaper. They also take up less space, and around here, that’s a very big deal.

Oh, how I would love to be spending money on wholesale clothing, but no such luck. In addition to the plywood for the bathroom floor, we now need a hinge for the bedroom door! It seems the repairs never end around here. Between that stuff and laundry detergent, I might just end up in the poor house.

In other news, Country’s report card came. She has attained a GPA of 3.625 and is enrolled in honors classes for next school year. Exciting times! I’m a little bit proud of her.

Diva has decided that public high school is all that and then some, and has stepped up her school pace considerably in order to get there sooner. Silly girl!

Houston, we have a small problem. We have a problem in the children’s bathroom. Now, the bathroom faucets are fine, but it seems that the children get a bit over excited at times about the water. They like it a lot, you see, and they like it to run hard and fast because that is so. much. More. FUN. All this water play has caused a, shall we say, HOLE to appear in the subflooring. Which hole went unnoticed until someone put their foot through the linoleum. So guess who’s gonna be stopping at Home Depot next Tuesday for some plywood? Three guesses, ya’ll!

Apparently, one cannot work seven days a week, keep up with feed reading and blogging and shop for books and insurance online with the other 20 minutes a day and still raise healthy, happy children.

Lo, the minions have rebelled. They have asked me to come love them again, only not so nicely and not exactly in words. Backing up twenty paces to punt, I have decided that I must take at least one day off per week, and by day off I mean actually not working, but spending that day with the kids, doing fun stuff. Or at least stuff that doesn’t make them cry, such as cleaning. Or taking a nap. Which is really bad, because I really so love a good nap.

So today I was looking over the Lewis University website. You know they offer a MS in Information Security that you can get online? Of course, they have campus based programs as well, but….a Master’s online. Back in the day, a Master’s Degree required jumping through nine thousand hoops, the most important of which was residency! And they didn’t cater to you, you had to cater to them. Today, colleges are more willing to work with your schedule and agenda.
and the major question seems to be if you want that degree to have a concentration in managerial aspects or technical concerns.

And paying for it, of course. With 22 courses, that’s gonna be a chunk of change. Good thing they offer financial aid!

Well, boys and girls, I just thought I was tired. In about a month, I will either be used to working in the middle of the night or begging for one of those Vegas vacations. See, I am joining the replenishment team at work. It’s a big fancy name for stock crew. A big fancy name for “be here at 4am”. How does this apply to mothering? Well, I’ll be home more during the day. In fact, I can get the same hours in three long days as I was getting in 5 short ones. That means I can cook and teach and and and again.

Here’s another way it applies: Moms, teach your kids how to work. There is no reason a 41 year old woman ought to be outworking young folks. I’ve been amazed at how some of the people I work with act when it comes to getting the job done. Or not, as the case may be.

But I’m in high demand at work, it seems, and that’s a very good thing.

Hmm, some things are just uncomfortable to hear, no matter when or where they are said or whom is saying them. I got just such a talking to tonight, and it came from my kids. I’ve talked here about how working has really thrown a kink into my life, but one thing I had not considered was how much it was affecting my children (and also, just how short their little memories are). I figured they were happy getting to spend so much time with my mom, but, no, apparently, they still want me.

Tonight’s complaint, delivered after I put the whole house on lock down so we could have dinner and a movie together was that I am not here even when I am home. I am busy with this and that and not interacting with the kids. Boy am I ever thankful that I had already realized that and tonight’s lock down was the first step in changing that.

I watched the movie “Click” this weekend. Have you seen it? I’m thinking it’s a good movie for moms to watch. At least it was good for me to see it. I’m so guilty of just rushing through this thing to get to the next thing. Click. Click. Clickclickclick and it’s gone.

Later that evening, I spent the most amazing fifteen minutes doing nothing but breathing and enjoying being right where I was. Lesson learned. For good I hope.

Okay, I’m done here, go read about the best diet pills or something while I go learn a different lesson.