We may earn money from the companies or products mentioned in this post.
After writing about How Social Media Effects the Home, I’ve been taking some steps back to evaluate my own life and social media use. I wrote about it with an idea already formed, but through discussion with you guys, I continue to think about it, and re-evaluate my own use of time. I’ve been feeling very overwhelmed lately, and even had the drastic thought of forgoing this blog. I knew that was a bit drastic though, and didn’t really want to. This is my outlet. I needed something to change though.
I then spent 2 days alone with the 4 kids, 1 dog, and fish. The first night was difficult, and I knew I needed to change something. I continued to think about it over the weekend, and came to a solution, or change Sunday night. I needed to start waking up earlier.
I realize most people have an alarm they set, they get up at the same time each day, and get into a great routine. I haven’t done this for years. Motherhood, and the fact I stay home with no real place to be each day, had me enjoying whatever sleep I could sneak in. The problem with no routine, is it breeds chaos. Not immediate chaos, but slowly overtime, I found myself lacking. Things I use to have time for, I no longer did. My patience was wearing thin, and my kids, quite frankly ruled the house.
I told Mark I needed to get up early. In the past I’ve asked him to wake me with his alarm, but he’s always been a gent and let me continue to sleep. So this time, when I presented him with the option of waking me with his alarm I told him why. Having reasons to get up that would benefit our family, was good enough for him (though the threat of buying my own alarm may have helped too..).
Monday morning 6am came and I found myself being swatted with a pillow “Get up. You told me to get you up”.
“uh. yeah I did.” snore.
“Get up. Why don’t you hop in the shower, it helps”
He was right, a shower did help first thing in the morning, and after it I was so ready for my day! I got in some quiet scripture reading, and a bowl of cereal with my husband before he left. I was ready for the kids to get up and eat, and jump into homework before afternoon kindergarten. The kitchen got cleaned, 4 loads of laundry were washed, and I was prepared for our family night activity.
It was amazing! So I resolved to again wake up early to be ready for the day, and create a little more order around this house. So far this morning, it is working. I’m up, I’ve pondered over my scripture reading, had and fed breakfast to the wee ones, wrote our menu for the week, and still feel energized.
So I might be a little late in this New Years Resolution thing, but I’m making the change now. Rising early, and keeping optimistic will aid you through your days. Order will be kept, and you’ll feel a little less overwhelmed.
Now if I could just start going to bed early…..
Weekly Menu Plan Feb 4th.
Monday – Potato Egg Bake
Tuesday – Split Pea Soup with Homemade Bread
Wednesday – Pacific Rim Wraps with Creamy Citrus Ginger Dressing
Thursday – Slow Cooker Barbecue Pork Chops
Friday – Chili Cornbread Pie
Saturday – Leftovers
Sunday – Salmon Rolls with Strawberry Mango Salad
Good for you Adelina… changing routine is hard. I have to get up early to get the kids on the bus but it is amazing how much you can get done before 9am. I think a shower first thing is key… it really wakes you up. Good luck to you.
A little off topic but I tried to cut up a fresh mango the other day and I ended up with a squishy mess that went straight to the trash can. Do you use fresh mango? If so, how the heck do you get pretty slices instead of the mushy mess I got?
I am no mango expert, since I rarely use them. They were on sale though, so I thought I'd give them a try. The ones I used weren't completely soft yet, still a little hard, but starting to get soft. I'm not sure if that effected the flavor or not, like they weren't as sweet as they could be, perhaps. Then I just sliced them like an apple, in sections.