The Schedule Myth

So Jeeves and I have been trying for the last two years to discover the perfect set of actions that would make up, "our schedule" a thing that would allow everyone to sleep and no one to miss activities and babysitting to be obtained when it was needed. The problem with this is... Jeeves. He is a midnight supervisor and has a very flexible schedule on top of needing to attend daytime meetings, be a part of the family and have time to do his own thing.

It turns out that there is never going to be a time in our lives when things just "work" He is always going to have church elder meetings, training, meetings and daytime crap to do.  I am always going to have girl scouts, outings with the kids, happy hour with work and grocery shopping. We are, in reality, going to be scrambling for childcare for at least the next 5 years at which point Pumpkin will be old enough to assist with managing her siblings for short periods of time.

There is a freedom and calm in recognizing this. I don't feel failure when I can't get a thing done in time, I have let go of the idea that we can have a schedule because every. single. week. something causes that to go down to the tube. I get to the end of the week without having kept to "the schedule" and feel like I've done someone some huge disservice. Turns out that disservice is expecting to fit our lives into a rigid structure.

Well, no more. I am embracing the chaos. I love my home and my babies and I am going to live in the crazy for the next little while. As long as everyone is fed, clean and gets to school on time, i'm being successful at this mommy business.  When it works, great; when it doesn't, oh well.

Last night all the kids ate dinner before 8pm, everyone slept in their own bed, and I didn't shovel chocolate into my face before collapsing into my nightly 5 hour coma. I am winning,

Also: I went grocery shopping last night and am now armed to take on the week and try to lose a few pounds. I am buying a scale on august 1st and going to try to make the first weigh in be a pleasant surprise. I digging in and making big food changes that are smart and sustainable. I'm NOT on a diet, I'm changing my life again. and this time I'm taking the whole family with me.

Dinner last night was sloppy Joe's made with grounf turkey and liberally laced with pureed broccoli. Everyone loved them.

Tonight, crock pot orange chicken with a mix of brown rice and steamed cauliflower rice. bring on the fiber.