Tuesday, January 23, 2007

It is time to pull back the reins

I forgot to pick up Maggie at preschool this morning. Now, I was only 30 minutes late and luckily her teacher was very sympathetic, but I know that this should be a warning with flashing red and blue lights in the rear view mirror that we are seriously overdoing. Currently my scheldule includes: swimming lessons, riding lessons, piano lessons, CCD, preschool, Cub Scouts, Little Flowers, watching 2 homeschooled children once every other week, taking a correspondence writing class, running, blogging, and homeschooling. Oh, and art classes are starting soon.
Oh. My. Goodness.
How do I get back some sanity?
Yesterday I cancelled our membership at the Y, so 1 only more month of swimming lessons. It takes so much energy getting there, getting everyone situated and then finally getting back home. Last week Will wouldn't come out of the men's locker room for 35 minutes. It was a bad scene with the little ones racing around the lobby, me hollering in the door, finally having to send two staff members in after him. 8 year old boys are not responsible enough to change in a timely manner and the worry of sexual assault is always looming in such a situation. Yesterday's disaster was that Charlie's diaper had slid down and he wet; not only his pants, but his socks and shoes. Of course I had no spare clothes for him handy. Luckily it wasn't that cold out.
I have also decided to not train for the 1/2 marathon that caught my eye the other day. I will have my hands full in the next few months getting ready to move, and all that it entails. One of the benefits of moving is that it requires me to start over, to reevaluate our goals. While I don't think I can pare any more stuff right now, by lightly tweaking, I hope to be able to just make it through the Spring. In our new home I can sit down and decide: Is X activity worth the hassle involved? Is Y activity really necessary? Just because some class fits in our scheldule doesn't mean we have to sign up and if something isn't working we can stop.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is funny. I think you're right about reevaluating after the move. Perhaps we "clutter" our lives with activities as well as stuff, and a move is a good time to rest for a bit and carefully select just a few things to do. I do know that when I moved here 2 years ago I was busybusybusy and very happy for a moment to have no social obligations. Once again, the stuff is piling up, and our move this summer will force another look at what we do. I don't think I'll be lucky to find Blue Knights or Little Flowers. Cub Scouts is a top priority, and baseball in the spring. Gymnsatics for the girls...and maybe that's it. And I've had it with CCD. No more. It is just another hassle, and they learn very little compared to home.