Happy Doo Year!
I recently read somewhere about how back to school for many people is a lot like New Year’s. A time of resolutions and new beginnings. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve begun to think that from a new beginnings perspective it’s actually more like New Year’s than New Year’s itself.
The summer was busy. I never realized until this year how much more work the summer is for an at-home parent than the rest of the year. A couple of summer day camps, vacations and a few day trips helped to entertain the kids, but the summer was so hot that for much of the time we were stuck inside the house. It’s not easy keeping three kids occupied day in and out. But the fall brings a new kind of busy-ness.
There are lunches to make, hair to brush, backs to be pack, buses to catch. There are lots of outdoor home maintenance activities, like trimming trees, raking leaves and tending my garden (I still have tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, cucumbers, baby spinach, and honeydew melon on the way!). The girls have started ballet lessons, my men’s soccer league will be going until November, and our home church group is starting to meet again as well as our dinner club. I’ve started an insane home workout program called P90X. I continue to lead worship in my church once a month and coordinate volunteers for the Halton Fresh Food Box program. My honey-do list (which I write for myself), strangely keeps growing (why do I keep adding things?). And I’m working two days a week with youngest in tow to build my new online green toy store — toyhuggers — which I hope to launch later this fall.
Blah. Blah. Blah…. So, the blog’s fallen a bit behind on the priorities list.
Life is full. And good. But there’s really no way to fit all of this in without some planning. So, I’ve welcomed the routine that comes with the school year. In fact, I’ve welcomed it so much that I’ve decided to get hyperorganized — or as my wife cleverly called it — “chore-ganized”. We started by listing all of the regular household chores — dishes, garbage, shopping, cleaning the bathroom — and assigning days and responsibilities for each. And I’ve put all my tasks and other activities into my calendar along with reminders to make sure everything gets done. And as retentive as all of this seems, it’s a great coping mechanism to fight that feeling that I’m not getting anything done that tends to happen when I’m just floating through life.
So I’m keeping this post short because my Google calendar just made a flushing sound. I think that means it’s time to clean the toilet. And from the splashing sound I’m hearing again from the bathroom, my 2-year-old has found the toilet brush again and started without me. Just another carefully apportioned 15-minute segment in the life of Doodad.
Happy Doo Year!
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