Sometimes the littlest things mean the most

I don't think there is a mom out there who hasn't wished for a few extra hours in the day. I know I have, especially now. Being back to work has been an adjustment. A big adjustment. I don't think I was fully prepared for how much work it was going to take to get four people out the door in the morning. I don't remember it being this hard before Maya arrived, but then there was only one kid to get ready to go to the sitters and if she went in her jammies it didn't matter. Now while technically they're both still going to the sitters half the week Abby is headed off to school from there. That means I have to make sure she has her backpack with all pertinent school materials like library books, special request craft items, school forms and any notes for the teacher. Not to mention suitable clothes for playing outside, at the sitters there is always a spare pare of mittens or a hat, not so at school. Now Maya needs lots of her own stuff to make it through the day; diapers, change of clothes, sucky, blanky, jars of food, snacks, bottles and so on.

Obviously the smartest thing to do is to get as much ready the night before as possible. I was really great about it in the beginning, but I admit I've been falling off the wagon. From the moment we get home my attention is kid focused. It would be nice if I could switch some of that focus over to myself or even Michael once bed time rolls around, but it doesn't seem to happen that way. Once the kids are out from underfoot then it's time to get lunches ready, pack multiple bags and lay out clothes for tomorrow. I hate to admit it, but I was really resenting the amount of time all of that stuff took every night. I was starting to get burnt out about it and consequently the whole organization thing was starting to implode leading to rushed mornings and lots of snapping. It hasn't been fun.

One thing really lacking in this house compared to a newer model home is storage space. Slowly we've been trying to add closets and such where we can. Now while we did build a closet in Abby's room it has no guts and by that I mean there is no hanging bar, no shelves, no cubbies, nothing that would let you know it's true purpose. Just a very small empty room. It's really been annoying me that we've yet to finish her closet because then I could buy one of those hanging clothes organizers. You know I mean? They're made of canvas (or nylon or some damn thing) and they hang down with a small "cubbie" for each day of the week. The idea being you can lay out your kids clothes ahead of time. That would make my life so much easier I thought to myself. Then the lightbulb went off. In Maya's room Papa installed a built in bookcase to use up what would have been wasted space. A quick check confirmed my suspicions that the bookcase had 5 shelves.



Viola! When putting the girls clothes away on the weekend I pulled out 5 days worth of outfits. It took me no extra time really when you consider I was putting laundry away anyway. The shelf in Maya's room is convenient yet out of the way. I cannot begin to tell you how excited I was by this. I had a smile on my face every morning when I grabbed their clothes off the shelf. I was so happy I had cleared that nightly chore from my list. Now if I could only figure out a way to make lunches a week at a time I'd have it made.