...when they learn to entertain themselves without needing my input every few minutes. We had very little to do this weekend, which is good, because I'm just about out of $ until payday. On Saturday, soccer had been cancelled due to the rain. Marcie had dance until 11:30 and then we came home for lunch and stayed in the rest of the day. I was anticipating a rainy day but the sun came out and stayed out for the rest of the day. It did look beautiful outside. The kids didn't even ask about going outside -- I guess they knew it was too wet. They entertained themselves with the TV, computer, DSs and DVDs all day. The only request they made was for me to make Charlie's favorite chocolate cake (egg free) and brownies (have eggs in them). So, I made the required foods while doing about 10 loads of laundry and running the dishwasher. I was tired last night but glad the laundry bags were totally empty (except for one toddler bed sheet and some hand washables) for a few hours. After bathtime, the kids' dirty clothes from the day went into the previously empty bags, but at least they weren't full to overflowing again! I actually also folded the clothes and put most of them away. I wanted to get more done, but ran out of steam after supper and baths.
Today, after church and then lunch, I read for a little while (still trying to get through Sarah Palin's book which I am really enjoying -- she really articulates well her philosphies about government and the will of the people; and you get a real sense of a mother's heart when she talks about her children). Then, I had to search for Charlie's DS which has been lost again for a few weeks. After not finding it in the living room, I went back to his room to look under his bed. I had looked there previously but didn't really move the toys, etc. He also went under his bed to look but didn't find it. So, today, I took the sheets off of his bed and propped the mattress against the wall. That view was horrifying to see -- candy wrappers. old, chewed gum, sucker sticks, broken candy cane, pretzels, amidst tiny toys, game pieces, flash cards, crayons, toy cars, you name it, it was there just about. So, I tackled it while the kids were watching TV and alternately playing with the McDonald's play set (unfortunately, it is just about always about food in this house). You might ask why I didn't make Charlie do it. There are 3 reasons: 1) he would never have completed the task because he would have been too overwhelmed and he would have started coughing from the dust; 2) he would never have wanted to throw away the little junk toys ("happy meal") and other scraps of paper he has doodled on; and 3) I didn't want to listen to the whining plus I knew I could do it faster. Well, I've been back and forth between that and the computer because I needed the distraction. Anyway, it is nice and neat under there now and I just have to put the sheets back on. The kitchen trash can is half full of "stuff" that I'm sure would have been meaningful had he seen it again. Okay, I know what you are thinking, he takes after me. I am hopeful that now the kids are old enough to need less of me for entertainment I can do more around the house when they are here. My dilemma has always been that I spend very little time in the house without them and I don't think it's right for me to totally ignore them on the weekends and spend all of my time cleaning. That's almost what happened this weekend. Next weekend, we will have soccer and dance and I will try to spend more time with them then. At least for this weekend, I have accomplished a few things!
Now, I need to fix supper and plan when I'm going to take the Christmas tree down.
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