I predicted that Baby #6 was going to be my biggest challenge and I was right. Not the baby herself, but having six kids. There's a lot to do around here these days. Grace is now six weeks and we love every minute of her. She is squooshy and cuddly and smells so sweet. I love to kiss her fat little cheeks. That was one of the things I daydreamed about there at the end of the pregnancy so getting to actually do it on a daily basis is literally a dream come true. :-)
With so many kisses to give, I've been working on simplifying. Here's what I've been doing so far:
1) This one is not so popular with the kids, but it has saved my bacon. I have been using the same menu plan since Grace was born. It's full of easy meals like tacos, chili, spaghetti, quiche and a frozen pizza here and there. Grace usually nurses around 4:30 or 5 every afternoon - right when I should be making dinner, so a meal that I can put together in 30 minutes is my goal. And using the same menu plan makes making my shopping list a short and sweet affair as well.
2) I remember back in the day when a friend and I would talk about how our kids would only have memories of our profiles because we spent so much time on the computer answering emails and surfing the web for homeschooling curriculum. ;-) Those days have been long past for me, but now I feel the need to cut back even more on computer time. A five minute check in the mornings and evenings is my goal, so I've begun unsubscribing from email updates that I don't LOVE. I never realized how many things I was getting from family organizations, homeschool curriculum vendors, news organizations.....I can survive without it!
3) During the pregnancy, I designated some shelves in our school room for toys that are in clear, plastic storage bins. I am not allowing more toys in the house than can fit on those shelves. So when we got new stuff for Christmas, the old stuff that was already conveniently stored in the bins went up to the attic and the new stuff was added. Keeps clean-up time from being so stressful and....SIMPLE. ;-)
4) There's a lot ot be said for The Basics. I've slashed a lot of extra workbook-y type stuff from Lydia and Jack's schedules and have been concentrating on Math, Writing skills and reading good literature. We've been able to fit in everything amid the feedings and Henry and Sophia's needs which makes us all happy.
If anyone has any other suggestions for the simple life, please let me know! I'm all ears. :-)
Those are great ideas, Becca! I know what you mean about needing to simplify. I had the same experience with just 5 children!
ReplyDeleteI don't have any ideas right now (I'm kind of brain-dead from long-term sleep-deprivation!), but it sounds like you're on the right track! (We eat lots of frozen pizza and pb&j around here these days!) After Ezra was born we took several very large Rubbermaid tubs and went through the whole house throwing toys in there and stored them in the garage to eliminate the amount of toys. It kind of helped, but they still manage to spread coats, boots, socks, papers, clothing, crayons, etc. all across the house! I've been working on giving them more chores to try to keep them busy so they aren't messing stuff up as much, but it's still a mess around here a lot of the time. :)
I don't know where you are in Texas, but I kind of miss Texas (I grew up in Austin where we never had snow!) when it's winter here in Missouri. We now have several feet of snow on the ground, and even though the children love to play in the snow, there have been lots of days where they were stuck inside, and that makes all of us feel crazy. And, after the snow comes mud... :)
Have a great weekend!
Love,
Joy
http://gracefulwordsblog.blogspot.com/
GET RID OF CLOTHES
ReplyDeleteGirl, clothes are running my life. Seriously, where do we go that we need this many clothes? We wear the same things over and over. If we have them, we have to wash, iron, fold, and put way them. I'm moving clothes CONSTANTLY. I'm thinking of putting only a few things in the drawers and keeping the other hand-me-downs in a big clear tub in the closet so when we need something different or better, we can "shop" in the tub. But my everyday life won't be affected by all those clothes!
That was from me---I forgot to sign
ReplyDeletebrenda@thefamilyrevised