Routine is good. I always believe that and find that with my family, and for myself. I like to have structure. These holidays that have just passed have not been routine or structure filled. When we couldn't go up to Hervey Bay, my mind freaked out about what we would do and how I would fill 6 weeks of school holidays. Normally I'd go on lots of adventures, but this year with Covid still being around (and it flaring up over the holidays) I was hesitant to head out to different places. This meant that we stayed home a lot, had slow starts to the day, did a lot of playing together. Some of this was good, other times the kids just fought with each other and had massive meltdowns. So with school returning this meant the kids have their own space, they have structure and they have routine.
However, when school went back, so did a lot of activities. I went from having my head around what we needed to do in the week to freaking out. A glimpse of our week is this:
Sunday
- Church (4pm) service. Some weeks James is leading meaning he is out from 2 and not home until the kids are in bed. In winter we will have AFL in the morning
- We are also trying to have lunch with others to still try and stay connected and catch up with friends
Monday
- Preschool, School, Dance for Eliza (4-5)
Tuesday
- Daniel has band in the morning (from 7:45), preschool, school, Daniel has bass lessons (4:15-4:45) which you need to stay around during
Wednesday
- Preschool, School, Swimming lessons for Daniel and Eliza (4-5) Bible Study for James/me
Thursday
- School, Mums Group, Dinner at Mum and Dad's (something that I have missed! Not only because of not seeing them but also the stress of working out one extra meal has been a challenge some weeks)
Friday
- School, Alexander swimming (10am), Mum and Dad around (a huge help!), most likely a playdate with friends
Saturday
-At this stage cricket (8am-9:30)
Not to mention James having Ministry of Rock practices, and hopefully gigs this year, AFL training which will start up in winter, Daniel doing bass practice and just being a family too.
So I was a bit overwhelmed when I started to try and get my head around everything. James was great and said that he can do some things and I don't need to stress about it all, but when it comes down to it there are times when he will need to be at work (like today) or in Hervey Bay (like next week) and I will need to do it all on my own. On top of that try to cook dinner and make lunches (something James amazingly still does for me!). It was just a bit much on the weekend.
I messaged my Mum's Group mums and they were great. They all felt the same and shared some tips. What I got out of it is I need to lower my standard of a fresh meal each night and instead try and cook up bigger batches or freezer friendly meals and pull them out on the crazy nights. Also, chop up veggies before school pick up so they are ready to go in stir frys and other dinners. Also making the snacks the night before in the lunch box so that is ready to go too works. So I will try these tricks and take a deep breath and get my head around this new routine. It will be come easier. I guess the other thing I think about is that Eliza and Alexander are only going to increase their activities so I don't know how you fit in 3 kids doing sport and music and still remain sane!
Anyway, I will just take it one day at a time. Today the kids are at school and preschool, pick up school kids, pick up Alexander, head to swimming, home to cook pasta and have defrosted spaghetti bolognese. Done!
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