It will be July next week, and I haven’t done half the things I thought I would do this summer. To be fair, I was deluded by the idea that both kids would be home and playing on their own, and I would have “all this time” to catch up on costuming, sculpture, writing, painting the dining room because I wouldn’t have to run them around town or find things for them to do. Well, that’s just a lie, isn’t it. Even with both of them out of diapers, there are always new ways to include the parent in everything they do. I don’t mind it. Actually, I love playing with them to the detriment of the house cleaning and anything else that requires concentration and time. Right now, I’m struggling to find a compromise between work and playing.
Through this effort, I have discovered a magical game called “help Mommy clean”. Of course, in theory, that would leave me some time to do other things, but in reality I am still involved, and have to play supervisor or socks get put in the dishwasher and candy ends up melted in the clothes dryer. It has turned 10 minutes of work into an hour of fun for the children. That’s not exactly helping to get my sewing done, though.
Another idea I had was to alternate “free” days with the neighbor children’s mothers. This idea seemed brilliant at the time, but has become a sort of round robin game. Friday, for example, went like this:
9:00am - my children head out to neighbor’s home for a fun day
9:15am - children are back to grab towels and change into bathing suits in order to play in sprinkler/slip ‘n slide/small pool.
Children cannot find towels or bathing suits on their own.
9:45am- dressed and well-equipped, children head out once more for a fun day.
10:30am- Roo returns home wet and upset because neighbor boy would not share his toy. After a change of clothes, he decides to stay home with Mommy and help her sew. Roo finds the power pedal for the sewing machine and nearly succeeds in impaling Mommy’s finger on the needle. Sewing halted while Mommy finds Roo something fun to do.
11:45am- Sewing is halted once more as Roo is seen outside with new puppy pushing new puppy down the slide on the treehouse. Puppy assumes safety position on Mommy’s lap while Roo is put in time out.
12:00pm- Roo is out of time out, and happy enough to return to neighbor’s home in time for prepaid lunch and fun. Puppy is asleep and set in basket, but it is lunch time.
12:15pm- after lunch, time to sew. Finally, I think.
1:30pm- Bunny returns, wet and tired and angry at friend because the friend is bossy. Sewing halts while Mommy calms Bunny down and tries to convince her to return to neighbor’s house.
2:15pm- after snack and a change of clothes, Bunny returns to the neighbor’s with resolve to stand up for herself.
2:30pm- Both Bunny and Roo are back again. This time, they bypass Mommy and pack a suitcase full of toys and snacks in an attempt to sneak them out of the house.
3:30pm- Children have unpacked the suitcase (yes, it did take that long, with whining included) and are sent back to neighbor’s home emptyhanded.
3:45pm-Children have returned to the house again to change back into their bathing suits for more wet summer fun. Help is needed as wet bathing suits are not easy to put on. Roo cannot find his shoes.
4:10pm- Roo finds his shoes and the kids go back to the neighbors… again. Sewing cannot resume, however, due to laundry.
5:00pm- husband comes home. Dinner is started.
6:00pm-kids come home, eat and fall asleep literally on the floor while watching tv.
7:00pm- kids are put to bed
7:30pm - This is probably when I should really sew. From this time until 2am or something. hm.. Maybe I’ll try that.
After all of that, I decided that it really doesn’t work. I have to pick and choose my times, and just work on my abilities to sew with distractions. I did manage to get half the outfit done. But that was without doing any housework or anything else, for that matter. Tomorrow, I am going to pack bags for the children and tell them not to come back until supper time. Maybe that will work.
If all else fails, I might try insomnia for a while.
