What The Heck Is Balance?

My to do list is never ending and I'm lucky if I get one item done these days.  I  laugh hysterically at the laundry monster who haunts and stares at me everyday.  "You shall never get me done. bwahahaha!" Yes laundry monster, you win everyday. Sigh.  With a new baby, writing my first book and juggling the everyday things, life has gotten a little crazy.

My days normally go like this. Please note that this is a short and sweet version of my day:

8:00 am - breakfast
   *in between five diaper changes, spilled milk, must get kids out of the house before I lose my mind, and screaming baby *

10:00 am- still trying to clean up from breakfast.  Got half the dishes in the dishwasher when I realize I haven't even unloaded the clean dishes. *slaps forehead*

11:00 am - kids start begging for a snack.  "But I just cleaned breakfast and you're hungry again!!"

12:00 pm -  I decide I need to feed these kids before their sugar level drops any further and the crying goes from a whine to a full blown temper tantrum which leads to throwing ourselves on the ground and biting.

 Side note - I envy all you parents whose kids still nap. No nappers here besides the baby, who bless his heart, tries to nap but normally gets a car on his stomach, a sloppy ketchup kiss or "let it go let it go" sung to him.

1:00 pm - I receive a text from husband "are you ok? kids ok? is the house ok?"  It's his way of asking me if I am still standing or am I waving a white flag.  Trust me there are days I want to text him "COME HOME NOW OR IM GETTING A ONE WAY TICKET TO SOMEWHERE WARM AND TROPICAL WITHOUT ANY OF YOU!"  yes those caps are intentional and I am screaming.

3:00 pm- I'm done. I have reached exhaustion and have not done anything on my to do list besides feed the kids and get them partially dressed.  At this point I have caved and I decide the best thing for all of us is to watch Netflix, Amazon Prime and/or Hulu Plus.  God bless internet service and streaming.

6:30 - husband walks in the door and I disappear

So the question I get asked frequently is "how do you balance everything?" The answer is I DONT! I try and I've read countless blog posts from establishing a routine to living a simpler life.  But in all honesty, right now I live moment by moment and I am very forgiving to myself and everything I said I was not going to do when I became a mom, I have now done.  If I take away all things "I have to get done" my days go smoother. I do what I can, write when I can and do laundry when I can.  Instead of focusing on what I didn't get done, I focus on what I have gotten done.  I gave my kids lots of love, I fed them, we eventually got outside and we are all still alive.  There is more positive in my day when I look at it from this perspective.

So if you ever come over and you step on a lego or there is no clean cups or a kid is running around naked, welcome to my happy home. This is how we are balancing life, for now.

Hot Days & The AC

It's finally summer here in Maryland.  The winter was long and harsh.  The coldness of this past winter was like no other I have felt or that I remember.  The Polar Vortex lived up to it's name.  Many days spent inside staying warm and day dreaming of summer weather.

It took awhile for hot weather to come. But when it came, it was hot! Maryland is known for it's nasty humidity.  It's dreadful. And forget about having pretty hair during these months.  It's pointless.  All day I felt like I was living near the equator or I was in my own personal Bikram class. 105 degrees and dripping wet. Everyone was sleeping in their undies.  I put fans in every room and it still felt like a sauna.    But I wanted to stick to my rule. No AC until July. Call me crazy but I  love seeing my BGE bill under 100 bucks.  Its the penny pincher in me. More importantly, I love having the windows opened and the smell of summer in my house. I let out all the winter "ju-jus" out and let the positive energy flow through. I also hate telling my kids "don't leave the door open. The AC is on." Drives me nuts.

I like to give them the liberty of going in and out and enjoying the warm weather. Especially with a winter like we had.  I also believe that keeping the AC off helps that lady I'm in love with, Mother Earth.  Getting all hippie on you guys now but anything to help out.

This year, I broke that rule.  I turned it on in June because I couldn't take the heat.  I was sweating like there was no other. All. Day. Long.  Plus with these crazy postpartum hormones and sitting nursing all day, it was dreadful.  So it went on.  That day, my hubby walked in from work, and had the biggest smile on his face.  He twirled me around and we did a little happy AC dance.  Haha.

But whenever I see that we will be having a cool day,  off it goes and I smile :) So here's to hot days and the AC being on.