Do you ever feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the
day?
I’ve kind of felt like a juggler lately, trying to keep all
the balls in the air and trying to make sure that none of them touch the
ground. When I spend the night
sewing snoods I feel a little guilty when I don’t get around to making a rosary
or a chaplet, and a few more recent projects I’ve been working on have taken
away from my store-work time altogether.
I’ve been making Mae cloth all-in-one diapers, because diapers are just
so expensive and I suddenly understand why all-in-ones seem so expensive when
you buy them, because they take serious time to make (at least they do for
me).
The pressure is on to start seriously couponing again,
because consistently living on the combined income of Paul’s permitted 10 hours
of work a week and my store sales isn’t easy, and I can tell that Paul isn’t
thrilled when he asks what’s for dinner and I say “rice and beans,” or some
variation of rice and beans, yet again (and he doesn’t seem to be deceived when
I say “five bean chili!” enthusiastically, as if it doesn’t involve one of
those two staples of our diet).
Couponing should help with that, and I did finish organizing my coupon
binder tonight. Nearly every
coupon in this house is clipped and in a carefully labeled section. I’m ready to start saving again.
Then there’re the basic portions of my vocation that take up
the majority of the day: caring for my family, cooking, cleaning and making
sure nothing disastrous happens is a full time job (Mae’s a climber and I’m
finding that silence means that she’s moved a chair, climbed something and is
perched somewhere). I’ve been
developing a schedule of sorts, and attempting to incorporate the liturgical
year into it as well, but I still feel, rather frequently, like I’m playing
catch-up every night, especially with Paul spending around 50 hours a week
working on school.
Even my blog has suffered as I’ve found myself getting
around to writing a blog post at around 11:00 at night, and after getting up at
6am, I’m not too sharp by the time I start typing away.
I’ve also started writing again, even if it’s just a little
bit every night. I’m not sure I’ve
ever mentioned this here, but I’ve actually completed two novels… one of which
is all edited and printed out and sitting on a shelf back in California just
waiting to be sent out, after being trimmed from over 100,000 words to
something a little less gigantic.
Paul’s pointed out that my perfectionism could mean that nothing I write
will ever see the light of day, but my blog should be proof that that’s not
entirely true. Baby steps!
For now I’m re-reading Holly Pierlot’s A Mother’s Rule of
Life and I already feel a little better about coming up with a Rule and getting
things under control so, at the very least, I find things a little less
stressful. I had read half of the
book when Sadie was small, but it got put aside at some point and I just kept
meaning to finish it. Now is
definitely the time.
The girls and I are also starting to do morning, evening and
nightly prayers together and Sadie actually went and got her Bible tonight when
I was looking for my copy of Magnificat and demanded that we read it (which is
something we usually do before bed, although I haven’t been as great about
remembering a it these last couple of weeks).
And while things can seem a little hectic at times (usually
in a “it’s all just going to be messy tomorrow so why am I cleaning tonight”
sort of way) I like the business of day to day life and I sometimes think that
I can almost feel my vocation and the call to serve my family, drawing me
closer to God. Tired or not I feel
overwhelmingly comforted by the knowledge that I am where I’m supposed to be
and there’s no where else I’d rather be and nothing else I’d rather be
doing.
I’ll just have to keep reminding myself that sitting down
for fifteen minutes doesn’t constitute “sloth, “even if there are dirty dishes
still in the sink. Everybody needs
to take a little break. Even
moms.
Has anyone else tried writing out a “Rule of Life?” How do you stay organized? Do you feel like you get everything
done by the end of the day?
Now for an end to my day! It’s a little earlier tonight than usual, but I can barely
keep my eyes open!
