When O was a newborn I feared the night because I knew that as soon as that sun set we were in for some unpleasant and very exhausting hours. This girl loved to scream at night and the fact of the matter was that even when it was Ben's turn to be "on duty," I could hear her screaming through our hollow core doors (I always swore that I was going to get a solid door for our bedroom before having a second child. Oops. Never happened). So in anticipation of each evening and in an attempt to make each night a better night, Ben and I would come up with a new plan.
Night one: "Okay, tonight we're going to swaddle and then feed."
Night two: "Tonight we're going to feed, then swaddle, then rock."
Night three: "Maybe we'll just feed her tonight. Maybe she doens't need to be swaddled anymore."
And so on and so forth.
I was constantly trying to find the secret combination of things that would allow our little one to sleep peacefully (and therefore allow us to get some rest).
And now three years later I'm still trying to come up with plans and secret combinations - only this time it has nothing to do with sleep. Instead it has to do with something even more scarce nowadays - time.
Time to get it all done.
Time to do it well.
Time to not feel like you're drowning under a to-do list a mile long.
Time to spend with your kids.
Time to spend with your spouse.
Honestly, most of the time I feel like I'm falling behind in each and every one of those categories and so at the beginning of every week I find myself trying to come up with a new plan on how to get things done.
Two weeks ago it involved running home during my lunch break and spending 30 minutes doing a load of dishes and folding laundry. (Coming home to a house that is not a complete disaster? Awesome!)
Last week it involved spending a lunch break grocery shopping so that we would have one less chore to do over the weekend.
And this week it involved joining Costco in the hopes that if we can buy some things in bulk, it will result in fewer trips to Target and the grocery store and that'll allow us to spend more time just being together.
Because really, that's what I want more than anything - time to just be together - snuggling on the couch, reading books, telling stores, and laughing.
Man, I wish they sold that in bulk at Costco.
* Pictures from our recent day at the
Puyullup Fair, where I ate my weight in scones and fried food...and then felt completely disgusting afterwards.