Managing our Time

Time is something there is simply not enough of.  There are kids that need to be fed, played with, taught, and cared for.  Menus need to be planned, groceries purchased, and meals cooked.  The house needs to be cleaned, de-cluttered, and organized.  Clothes need to be bought, cleaned, and put away.  The list goes on and on.  Notice just in that brief list, there are two people not mentioned:  me or my husband.

I've talked many times before about the need to carve out some time for myself.  Other than the hour I take during nap time to do whatever I want, I still struggle to make time for myself at night or on the weekends.  Earlier this week I shared a book with you that I enjoyed and in that book there were a few areas the author mentioned that would help us keep true to ourselves:  play and creativity.  As a parent, I think these may be areas in our life that get neglected.  Our "play" tends to be outside of the home and sometimes it is hard to make time to do the things we love.  Using our creativity also takes time, but much of this can be done at home, so in reality making a conscious effort to tune into our inner creativity may not be that hard to do.

I have decided to make a few goals for myself in these areas.  Using my creativity is going to be the easier of the two given the time of the year.  I love to bake, so I suppose it could be considered my play, as well as using my creativity.  Given the holidays are approaching, I am looking forward to testing out some new cookie and dessert recipes to share this season, as well as some DIY gifts.  I've also found a few cute ideas for some projects for the kids that will tap into that creative side.  Now to just gather all of my supplies and get to work!

One area in my life that I feel is truly neglected is spending time with my husband outside of the house without the kids.  My goal for us is quite simple: to get out more often.  A few weeks ago my parents came to watch the kids so we could go to a movie.  This weekend, my mother-in-law is coming so that we can escape to the far west suburbs of Chicago for a day to celebrate our anniversary.  I'm not sure what we will do with four hours of driving time that will give us the opportunity to talk without interruptions!  We also plan to shop (no, not his favorite activity, but one of mine!) for Christmas gifts and most importantly...eat!  We are going to a few of our favorite restaurants and I'm sure we'll find time to grab a treat or two.  I think this sounds like a wonderful day of play!  I hope that we can come up with a plan to find time for more time away together.

While there may never be enough hours in the day, I think it's important to prioritize what we do spend our time doing.  For me, it seems that my kids come first.  They take up the most time and there are many activities I will push aside (like cleaning!) if they need me.  While my kids are important, I think I need to remember that so are my husband and I.  With number four coming in about five months, it seems like we don't have a whole lot of time to put "us" near the top or at the top of the priority list.  I guess it's something we just need to do.  Hopefully our parents are up for helping us accomplish that!