5 Minutes

So far, I've been doing a solid job of keeping my cool and focusing on keeping it fun in 2015. I've been pausing and breathing before reacting to misbehaviors instead of lashing out and yelling at the first sign of trouble. I'm pretty proud of my progress, except for one, very bad, very UNPROUD night of conflict with the kiddos--but, I've made my peace with that night and Lainey still says I'm the "best Mommy ever," so she's made hers, too. Hopefully, Nick just doesn't remember. 

I had a pretty miserable cold last week and was very short on sleep from a stressful work week and two kids who didn't want to sleep (evidently Lainey no longer requires the permission of the green light for it to be OK to Wake). Although I had a chore list a make long, I indulged in afternoon naps both days to catch up on sleep and kick the sniffles. And miracle of miracles, we all seem to be surviving without folded laundry or scrubbed floors and are still peacefully co-habitating with the dust bunnies. And the extra sleep made me a much more agreeable person, which I think makes everyone happier than a pristine house. 

I've recommitted to my "no phone rule" between 6-8pm weekday nights, something I had become pretty lax on in recent months. As of this weekend, I've added to the mix a five-minute rule--for me, not the kids. I have a terrible habit of telling the kids "just five minutes" when they want me to play, but I'm doing some terribly pressing thing like washing dishes. Well, five minutes can easily turn into 25 when you keep sneaking in "just one more quick thing." So, now I'm setting timer for five minutes to do some sort of chore--clean-up after a meal, change the bedding, etc. When the timer is up, I drop what I'm doing and re-engage with the kids. Sometimes I finish, sometimes I don't. But, the timer keeps me honest. By Sunday night, Lainey was starting to get feel for how long five minutes is and left me alone to do my thing--or maybe she just started trusting I really would come to her as promised, so she didn't need to follow-up every 30 seconds. Regardless, it stopped her whining and my frustrated sighs of "I'm coming!" And it also makes me hustle a little more to get stuff done, so I don't have to leave a lone glass in the dishwasher or a pile of crumbs on the edge of the counter. Even if I didn't get as far as I wanted in my five minutes, I got something done, making me feel less twitchy about all the things that needed tending to and able to enjoy our game of Uno or Legos or whatever the kids wanted to play. It was nice. I feel like I'm finally making strides in finding the balance I've been craving. It might not happen every day, but this weekend was a good starting place!