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I am not complaining. Not at all. And I totally get that everyone has a crazy life! I do sometimes think my life is more crazy then the next persons at times, but only because I’M not dealing with crazy the right way. Get what I mean?
Can you believe I have a family of 7 and I don’t meal plan? Heck! I don’t even make a grocery list! So, I decided to get working on meal planning and get disciplined about grocery shopping. AND to really plan out my days. Planning out my days is BIG!
When you have a big family and they are all little… it’s totally workable. When all but one are in school… a totally different story. Drop off’s, different pick up times, different schools, homeschooling, volunteering in classrooms, assessments and Drs appt…. And sometimes those Drs. are in SF! Date night, yoga, band rehearsals and youth group, Bible study and mom’s group. My days can be crazy. How I am not crazy???
It’s by the grace of God. I tell ya!
(Just proof reading here: I might be crazy… I’m not sure)
A couple days out of the week, I was feeling like I wasn’t getting much time WITH the kids. And then memories of my childhood came flooding back to me.
Picnics with my Grandma Joan.
She was a major part of my childhood before I was 8. Grandma Joan was running me to school, dance, swimming, Brownie events and helping me with school work, church events and family dinners… the list goes on and on. AND she had my Aunt Jennifer who must have been in High School at the time. I can’t remember how she did it. She did raise 5 kids and was a preschool teacher so, by the time I came around… Well, it wasn’t her first rodeo. 😉
I very vividly remember having a picnics with her often.
This one memory is so vivid… We were picnicking at my Aunt Jennifers school. My grandma Joan was SO ahead of the times. She packed the lunch in an old bread bag. I’m pretty sure… I could be wrong, but in my memory it was an Homepride wheat bread bag. She was big on the reuse! 😉 She wrapped the sandwiches in wax paper and pulled out real spoons from her bag for our fruit on the bottom yogurt. We sat at a wooden table under a big tree and ate. My aunts school uniform was a lot like mine only mine had a pinafore top. I recall watching these people, who looked like adults to me, wearing nearly the exact uniform as mine except they didn’t have to wear the pinafore part… I thought they looked cool.
That memory got me thinking. I’ve started planing my days out better. Especially the crazy days. Instead of rushing home to make lunch searching for something they all want to eat, and then making them rush out with half eaten sandwiches in hand… I make sure I have lunch planned and made. That way, we can just get Maggie, stop at a park eat and play for a bit, THEN go get Brady, come home, and go down for naps before I have to leave again! A simple little adjustment and… VOILA! On my crazy days an 45 extra minutes of fun I get to have with my girls. The girls aren’t stressed because I’ve rushed them around and I get to have some fun with them! AND hopefully we are making special memories of our own!
Just think if I eliminated shopping nearly everyday and I used my crockpot more! AND how about pre-assembled meals? Just ready to toss in?! A much less stressed out me and add up all those extra minutes!!
Sometimes I work with Mary Rose while the little girls play and sometimes I’m playing with them. But, the last time… I laid down. Listened to the three girls giggling and soaked up some sun.
It was nice. I guess thats what they call, using your time wisely.
I’ll show you my meal planning calendar after I try it for a while. It’s looking good now, but may need a few adjustments.
How do you use your time wisely? Or do you? Are you a meal planner with tips? What is the craziest time of day for you? What have you done to make your crazy better?
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