Well with Halloween over I thought there might be time to relax for at least a morning before I was on to the next thing. I should have known better. It seems Christmas is already upon us, and with that and planning on starting a daycare in the new year, I have had an appointment or meeting or interview or shopping to do or something else every day. This is by far the fullest month on my humongous fridge calendar this year. There is one day that's blank, but give it some time and that one will be filled too. There's still a week and a half of this month to come up with something I'm sure.
With all that's going on, I've found it hard to maintain a daily routine. I like routines, probably more than the next guy (or mom), but this time of year is busy for everyone. I also have the added responsibility of volunteering in J's class every other week, baking muffins about once a month for the school Breakfast for Learning program, baking enough snacks and desserts to feed my hungry hungry hippos, er kids, and cooking dinner every night. And we can't forget J's soccer and swimming two nights a week, my husband's weekly appointments, E's gymnastics once per week, the weekly resource centre play group the E loves to go to and drop in gym where he gets to drive a little car around for 90 minutes. Oh yeah, and getting the house up to code for a home daycare.
I have also managed (with help from my family) to get Christmas presents bought for my nieces and nephew on my side of the family, and organize a weekend that my mom can take the boys so P and I can get their shopping done. Speaking of shopping, I think all of J's many friends were born in either November or December, because in the next three weeks he has four parties to attend, and I haven't even thought about buying birthday presents for those yet.
Something else that's on my to-do list before Christmas is getting my First Aid and CPR certification again. And we all need flu shots. I also have to prepare for all my Christmas baking, because I will have about ten families to provide with baked goods. This is not a complaint; I do this as a Christmas gift because it's more personal than buying a present (and also cheaper).
Needless to say, I haven't been to the gym in over a week. This is okay for several reasons. One, I was going regularly for over two months and working out hard (as in running a mile or more, at least three times a week) and didn't lose any weight. Of course I know I've got to keep trying, but enough's enough for now. It's not like I'm going backwards if I stop for a bit. Another reason this is okay is that come January, I'm going to have to find a new routine for going to the gym. With several more children in the house during the day, I won't be able to go in the mornings like I did. The last reason is that I don't have much time to eat, so I don't need to burn the calories as much. Yes, I know these are all excuses, and not very good ones at that, but I have to tell myself something, right?
Anyway, through all this craziness and running out of time I forgot to mention that I've been having a lot of fun. I am a person who needs to be busy. If I have nothing to do I will stand somewhere, slightly resembling a cactus out of the desert (in other words, lost), and go to bed because I'm bored. And that's definitely not productive. Or fun.
For those who don't believe me, let me tell you about our weekend. Saturday was Free Movie Day, or Community Day, when we could go see a movie for free in the local theatre and buy cheap popcorn. I went with J and we invited one of his friends. That covered our morning and then he had a play date in the afternoon. Then we bought groceries and did the dinner and hygiene and bedtime thing, and I made muffins for the family. And cookies. Sunday J had a play date with one of his friends and another friend called and asked to come over at the same time, so we had a mini party. Then we had to go out to do some Christmas shopping and get the kids home for a rushed dinner and early bedtime. Then I made more cookies. Two days went by in a whirlwind, but it was fun. I did a lot with E too, like playing outside, playing games here, dancing and building obstacle courses in the living room.
The two days of this week have been filled with 100 mini muffins for J's school, a doctor's appointment, two phone interviews with the school and two local play groups for E. If this keeps up I won't even remember the month leading up to Christmas this year, which might be a good thing considering how stressed out most people get. So while I ask for a minute, a quiet one without other people or anything to do, I don't think I would appreciate it or acknowledge it if I got it. This is my life, and I quite like it. Even if I forget a few things along the way.
Tuesday 19 November 2013
Friday 8 November 2013
A new job!
This isn't technically a "job" to most people, but I'm very excited. I've signed up to be a home daycare through a local agency, and I will be starting in January. I will be fully licensed, insured and have four more rugrats in my house. Oh boy.
I know it's going to be an adjustment, but I think it will be a positive one. It allows me to stay home with E until he starts school and still earn a decent amount of money. I had reservations about a home daycare, because several people have suggested I do it before. My feeling was that I couldn't spend very much quality time with E if I had a bunch of other kids to run around after. But I changed my mind, or perhaps the timing is better now because he's older. Now my opinion is that he will benefit from the interaction, structure and increased activity level.
I wanted to stay home and devote all of my time on E for two more years at least, but this didn't turn out as well as I thought it would. First, I rely on the bus throughout the week, and for those who know Peterborough, the buses are anything but convenient. Suffice it to say that a 2 hour outing in any other city turns into a four hour outing here. That's a lot of wasted time and energy for very little benefit. We were in the habit of going out for five hours every morning, and only about an hour of that was time spent together. I felt bad because it wasn't easier to interact, but then when we stayed home he got bored and wouldn't sleep well. It was a no-win.
So with all these other children invading our space, I can organize activities and playtime with minimal (ie. zero) travel time. Hey, anyone who thinks I'm taking five children under four years old on the bus is crazy! I still get to spend time with E while allowing him socialization and stimulation, and I get to save money on bus passes too!
There are some added benefits. One being that I can follow a structured routine every day that includes exercise, playtime and learning. Come on, that's just fun! Oh, I'm good at that kind of thing too. I will receive a whole bunch of training for free as well, and maybe when I want to rejoin the work force outside of my home, it will open up some new opportunities for me.
There are some things I'm not looking forward to though. The most obvious is nap time. There will be a gaggle of kids downstairs on sleeping mats for 1-2 hours, but I don't envision them sleeping. I think I may purchase a video monitor, and maybe an intercom system so they know I am watching.....
The other thing I'm not looking forward to is outdoor time. Don't get me wrong, I love taking kids outside to play, but our local park has been closed for two years and will remain closed at least until next summer, maybe longer. Our backyard is large, but I don't have a play structure or swing set. I will be stocking up on outdoor toys, clearance or used of course, and then I may feel better, but for now I see me and a group of children standing in the backyard looking at each other. There's only so long a ball can remain interesting.
These things aside, I am still quite excited. I gave them January as my starting date because there are several legal things to do, like First Aid training, Police Check and making the house safe. That will take up most of November and then it will be December which is Christmas and is crazy. Besides, there's a certain sense of poetry (is that the word I want?) in starting something so big in the New Year. It may be small potatoes to other people, but for me and my family, it will be a significant change. There is one other thing I forgot to add about the timeline. I have less than two months to teach E to sleep until at least 6 am.......I`m not optimistic.
I know it's going to be an adjustment, but I think it will be a positive one. It allows me to stay home with E until he starts school and still earn a decent amount of money. I had reservations about a home daycare, because several people have suggested I do it before. My feeling was that I couldn't spend very much quality time with E if I had a bunch of other kids to run around after. But I changed my mind, or perhaps the timing is better now because he's older. Now my opinion is that he will benefit from the interaction, structure and increased activity level.
I wanted to stay home and devote all of my time on E for two more years at least, but this didn't turn out as well as I thought it would. First, I rely on the bus throughout the week, and for those who know Peterborough, the buses are anything but convenient. Suffice it to say that a 2 hour outing in any other city turns into a four hour outing here. That's a lot of wasted time and energy for very little benefit. We were in the habit of going out for five hours every morning, and only about an hour of that was time spent together. I felt bad because it wasn't easier to interact, but then when we stayed home he got bored and wouldn't sleep well. It was a no-win.
So with all these other children invading our space, I can organize activities and playtime with minimal (ie. zero) travel time. Hey, anyone who thinks I'm taking five children under four years old on the bus is crazy! I still get to spend time with E while allowing him socialization and stimulation, and I get to save money on bus passes too!
There are some added benefits. One being that I can follow a structured routine every day that includes exercise, playtime and learning. Come on, that's just fun! Oh, I'm good at that kind of thing too. I will receive a whole bunch of training for free as well, and maybe when I want to rejoin the work force outside of my home, it will open up some new opportunities for me.
There are some things I'm not looking forward to though. The most obvious is nap time. There will be a gaggle of kids downstairs on sleeping mats for 1-2 hours, but I don't envision them sleeping. I think I may purchase a video monitor, and maybe an intercom system so they know I am watching.....
The other thing I'm not looking forward to is outdoor time. Don't get me wrong, I love taking kids outside to play, but our local park has been closed for two years and will remain closed at least until next summer, maybe longer. Our backyard is large, but I don't have a play structure or swing set. I will be stocking up on outdoor toys, clearance or used of course, and then I may feel better, but for now I see me and a group of children standing in the backyard looking at each other. There's only so long a ball can remain interesting.
These things aside, I am still quite excited. I gave them January as my starting date because there are several legal things to do, like First Aid training, Police Check and making the house safe. That will take up most of November and then it will be December which is Christmas and is crazy. Besides, there's a certain sense of poetry (is that the word I want?) in starting something so big in the New Year. It may be small potatoes to other people, but for me and my family, it will be a significant change. There is one other thing I forgot to add about the timeline. I have less than two months to teach E to sleep until at least 6 am.......I`m not optimistic.
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