Tuesday, October 23

Torn and Tired

Do you ever feel that way? I do. More often than not these days, I'm afraid. Do you ever feel like the worst version of yourself is coming through more often than not? There has been a lot of chaos in the Bailey household during the past month. Whoever said that life was going to be easy, should be taken to a 8'x8' room with 6 kids and forced to stay there all day.

I finally put out the Fall/Halloween decorations this morning. Ours are more Fall than Halloween, as I tend to struggle with the whole idea of Halloween. So we let the kids dress up (non-scary) and go to a few Fall Harvest parties. Occasionally we allow them to trick or treat with the mayor downtown, or do Trunk or Treat, but we don't go trick or treating or hand out candy anymore. We live outside of town in a little subdivision full of senior citizens (whom we adore), so we rarely get anyone to come to our house anyway.

Sometimes I feel like there are 101 things to attend to on a single day. If I made a list of all the things I had to attend to on a given day, I think I would lose my mind. I know it sounds like I am complaining, but I'm really not. It's just a fact. It seems at this season in my life (and I love this season) that more often than not, you will find my washing machine is constantly running, with a pile of clothes that needing to be put away, at every hour. You will hear our dog Scooby barking at the cute plastic milk jug skeleton that is hung outside. The one that hits the door every time the wind blows. You will see Fall bins needing to be put away, and a fireplace mantle covered in Fall decorations that I haven't had the chance to do something with as of yet. If you look at the kitchen table you will see a bottle of ketchup and mustard, H's spelling binder, a wipes container full of colored pencils, a pencil case full of sharpened pencils, a Halloween bucket from a Happy Meal, the lid from a cottage cheese container, 5 placemats, and 3 glasses and a plate that are from the Pottery Barn Kids Halloween collection that I purchased several years ago. These are all random things I need to attend to. It's also 5 p.m. and I need to start dinner. That's also on my list. So much to do! I'm okay though, and all those things will get done, sooner than later.

Funny thing I found this morning while digging through the Fall bins for decorations was a pad of post-it notes with 52 days until Christmas written on the top page. I can't even remember putting that in there last year when I put everything away. I have so much to make and do before then, that I don't even want to think about that list that needs writing soon.

There are certainly a lot of things I need to attend to, but I know that each day will come and go like the last, and I need to make the most of each and everyday. I know that my kids won't always be this age, and I won't always have a pile of dishes, or Legos covering the livingroom floor, or a never ending laundry pile. I won't be crafting and sewing out of necessity, but for pure enjoyment and creativity. I sometimes find it funny how we buy all these books on how to have an organized home, or how to parent this way or that, or how to be a better husband or wife, and by the time you have time to read them, your kids are all grown, your house is easy to keep organized, and you've been married so long that you've already learned how to be a better husband/wife on your own. Seems it should happen the other way around.

Today was good. We played Halloween puzzle math, and Spelling drill Cootie along with all the other things the boys had to do. The boys love playing games for school every great once in awhile. They are great spellers. So proud of how far they've come. Teaching is the highlight of my day. I love to teach (my own kids)! Thought I'd add that little tidbit on the end.

Tomorrow we are bombing the house for fleas. Ugh! Such a terrible year for them. Our poor little terrier has been miserable. We have to go up to Pontiac tomorrow morning to pick up my husband's uncle. Should be an interesting ride with both the cat and dog. One will be in a kennel. It should be a 4 hour trip in total, so that should be plenty of time to kill those pesky fleas and have it be safe for all of us to return. Our plan is to carry the pets into the house and bathe them thoroughly with flea shampoo, and then apply the most expensive  flea treatment on the market. Why does that stuff have to be so expensive? You'd think it was a prescription. Too bad we can't put animals on our health insurance policy. Wouldn't that be nice?

Better get to my list! Caio'.