More time

Sunset view from our deck.

Life is changing.  Jules has now started morning kindy, which means he has kindy every weekday.  Monday and Friday he goes from 8.30 - 12.30 and has lunch at kindy; Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday he goes from 8.30 - 11.30.

It is Tuesday and I am sitting at home writing in my blog, with Jules off at kindy and Taavi down for a morning nap before his swimming class.  I think I am going to start having more of these little pockets of time of 30 minutes or an hour or so where I am on my own and actually get to choose what I want to do.  It is kind of amazing.

The temptation is to always do something "productive" and useful, like prepping veggies for dinner or folding laundry or...any number of endless tasks that await.  HOWEVER, I am trying to remember that taking care of myself is also productive!  If I am feeling happy and healthy as a result of spending some time on me and my needs, I will be a better mum and get more done during the other times.

One thing I am learning from being a mother is how to take life more slowly, and not to try and pack too much in.  I have worked very hard the past few years at organising my life so that I don't have a lot of pressure points for myself or the children, eg where we have to be somewhere at a certain time or we have activities that we can't easily cancel at the last minute due to illness, sleep needs, etc.  I feel like I am finally seeing the fruits of my labors, so to speak, as I drive places and am not in a rush or as I have lots of time in between activities and can just stop at the park with Taavi if we feel like it.  The challenge is to plan enough so that we have structure but not pressure.  I am pretty pleased with where we are at so far.  And at the moment, 30 minutes to sit down and do what I want feels like lots.

Hanging out one-on-one with Taavi!