Monday, July 5, 2010

A blessing and a curse

For those of you don't know, I run a daycare out of my home. With a helper here I am licensed for 15 kids. Kelley and Tyler are old enough that they don't count, so technically I can have 17 kids here at a time. So this summer we are FULL at the daycare. I have as many kids as I can have. They are not all here all the time, but we are BUSY. Which is good. It's very helpful as we try to pay off our debt, make improvements to the house/yard and not have to live so much paycheck to paycheck. It's a wonderful HUGE blessing.

But my life is a mess. My house is a mess. My bedroom is BEYOND a mess - it's more like a massive tornado shoved into the tiny space that we sleep in. My bathrooms only get scrubbed down when we have company coming or the grossness just can't be ignored anymore. My files for the daycare are...well, they aren't really files. They are kind of a mass of papers waiting to be filed and then I have to make sure I even have everything, which I probably don't.

My desk is covered with papers, probably several bills that I could pay if I could find them...(((sighhh)))

This happens every time. When I get more kids, even though I have more help (my employees are here more) I get further and further behind. I just have to keep telling myself...one step forward, 3 steps back, but eventually maybe forward progress will happen...maybe?

Don't get me wrong. My life is good. Just busy and parts of it are overwhelming. I just keep repeating the mantra: Do what you can do...

With that, here's a list of blog posts I'd like to write sometime.

On hair dye and fake nails
Boys and their toys
Anderson Family Reunion
Garden Update
I am a Triathlete...now if my knee would stop hurting

But right now, it's off to clean my room. And when I say clean my room I really mean make tiny dents in the massive mess that inhabits it :) Good night.

4 comments:

rachaeljanae said...

Start teaching all those kids to work! I'm starting to realize with all these kids around here, me fat and bloated and tired, that's the only way big families can survive. Everyone pitches it. Make it a game, bribe them, do whatever it takes. There are certain things only you can do, but you'd be surprised at how much kids can do. And my philosophy is that even if they don't do it perfect, it's better than me not doing it at all, or spending ALL DAY cleaning. Good luck, you'll figure it out.

Rae said...

I think it's important when our lives overwhelm us (more than usual that is)to remember that it's temporary. (I give myself some good advice...heh...) One day you will have things organized and such--but be proud of yourself that you are doing the most important things first! (Mothering...helping your family....etc.)

And then along the lines of what rachaeljanae said, I'd say start small and definitely have the kids help! Pick a one or two things you can do that give the biggest impact and stick with that until it's regular enough to be almost easy. Then add on as you're able.

Jen said...

Glad to know I'm not the only overwhelmed mama. I'd offer advice, but I think the chaos is part and parcel of the working mom's curse, whether you work from home or not. So my only advice: a well-timed Disney movie never hurt anyone when the mess becomes more than you can take. Good luck!

Andrea said...

I'm so sorry. I can relate to the mess, but not the reason behind it (I only have two kids here). There are just so many days when I don't feel like cleaning. Some days are very busy, and the days that aren't, I'm not up to doing stuff. Good luck with it!