I am mainly blogging to distract myself from a stand off that Scott and I are currently having with Ada. It is 9:43, and she won't go to sleep unless I sleep with her. In our house, Ada falls asleep in our bed, and we move her before we go to bed. This is just our "make-it-work" solution for her sharing a room with John. When John is older, I assume it will be easier to put them both to bed in the same room at the same time. Or not? Anyway, tonight, Ada decided she wanted me to lie down with her until she fell asleep, but I can't do it or she will want me to do that every night. And already she falls asleep in my bed, and there has to be some space for Scott and me apart from our children.
We are out of ideas, though. She has been spanked a lot tonight. We have lost count. I have been compassionate and prayed with her and sang our "do not be anxious" song and rocked with her. I have lost my temper. We have ignored her. I have tried reasoning with her. She is still awake, but at this point it is a battle of the wills, and we can't give in because disobedience has been at an all time high lately. We are out of ideas. She won't go to sleep; it's sort of amazing. So, we told her that's fine, she can sit on the love seat in the play room, but I can't lie down with her. So, she is sitting on the love seat, and we are still at a stand off. I assume she is going to fall asleep on the love seat? I am not sure. At this point, she has lost computer games, television, and candy for all of tomorrow, and I am out of ideas for what I can take away.
Okay, I just glanced at her. She is asleep on the love seat. Now we are debating when to move her because we don't want her to wake up and start this whole thing all over again. That was exhausting, ya'll!!!!
Okay, cleaning?
It's going okay. Not great, not horrible. I just struggle with a balance. Let's face it, clutter is going to be an issue with a toddler and a preschooler in a tiny little house (or a big house, for that matter). And it drives me crazy. But I am working on just doing the best I can. I don't want my goal to be perfection (ha, I am not even close to perfection over here, but that is what is driving me crazy), I want my goal to be faithfulness. Diligence. So, at the very least, I want to do my daily stuff--beds and kitchen and laundry and clutter. Day in and day out, even if no one could even tell that I am working on this. I am making a list for the entire week, though. That's my new thing for the week--naming an "extra" for each day rather than waiting until the night before. So, here it is...
Monday--change all sheets
Tuesday--bathroom
Wednesday--mop kitchen floors
Thursday--vacuum whole house (have I mentioned that it's a small house ;) )
Friday--clean out fridge and freezer/grocery store
Saturday--clean cars and dust
Sunday--rest
This is just an experiment, and this is just for this week. I think the daily schedule will look different from week to week. And here's the key, I think. If something doesn't get done one day, I don't move it to the next day, I just move on to the next thing, and I try again next week. I don't want to end up with an impossible list on Thursday. Though, if I get to Thursday, and I realize it's more crucial that bathrooms get cleaned than floors get vacuumed, then I can switch, but I can't "pile up." Anyway...it's one day at a time.
Happy cleaning (ha!)
2 comments:
Of course I have no comment or advice about Ada's sleeping. I'm just listening and learning ;) and I'm sure I'll be calling you in the years to come (don't worry I won't wake you late at night as I'm struggling and your sleeping sound by then...lol).
I love your cleaning schedule. I particularly like that you don't carry responsibilities over to the next day! That way you don't feel overwhelmed or discouraged. I'm thinking through a schedule for the future. I feel like right now I'm just coasting through the next months. If I can just get the house ready for Joshua...then I'll get into a schedule...(oh no I hope I'm not forever saying that ;) Anyway I love this post! Thank you.
This is the way a "weekly schedule" works for me, too. I have 5 tasks and as long as I do one each day I don't sweat it. And I don't mean to disrupt the work you've already done, but I find it really helpful to do all the laundry on one day. Generally it is a day that I am home all day (or pretty close to it) and I just force myself to do it all and put it all away, then I don't think about it again until the next week. Sheets and towels are the exception - they get washed on the day that I change all the sheets/towels. For what it's worth, I read that it is energy-efficient for the dryer, since it stays warm all day. Just a thought!
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