The end of this week has felt overwhelming to me. Despite our heat wave, which has been a welcome change, and has made everything feel nice, bright and very “summery”.
But I don’t know, I just feel…overwhelmed. My brain dump list from last week has remained untouched, except I’ve thought of a bunch of things to add to it. Argh.
Our upcoming weekend looks super busy (again).
Tomorrow we have:
- 9:00- Asher swim practice
- 10:00- Ethan volleyball game
- 1:00- Asher volleyball game
- 2:00- Asher volleyball
- 3:30- Ethan soccer game (2 hours away)
Sunday our day goes:
- 11 am- E soccer
- 12:00- A volleyball
- 3:00- E volleyball
- 6:45- E tennis
Someone explain to me how/ when I’m ever supposed to do anything from my to-do list???
(I know, some could argue- “well, don’t sign your kids up for all that stuff!” But I swear, it’s not exactly as bad as it looks? I mean, yes, it kind of is, this weekend, but the VB season is actually really short. Next weekend it ends already. I didn’t initially realize though that the “super short season” actually means –> multiple games per weekend, to fit a normal season’s worth of games into fewer weeks.)
And the practices during the week DO keep them active, busy, engaged in things, not on screens, learning new skills…. overall I am very PRO kids being in activities, for a huge number of reasons. But still. I can admit that it can be a lot.
This is also the busy end-of-school season. We have an end of year school band concert on Monday night. The boys are going to a Brewers game next Wednesday with school. We have a friend’s graduation party to attend next weekend. Etc.
I am just feeling very stretched thin. And although I am generally also very “pro” being a working mom, and I like to work, I’m having frequent, random, semi-panicky thoughts like, “How on earth am I expected to deal with all of this stuff with the kids, the house, our life AND work full time?! This feels impossible.”
(*And I have a super flexible job, which makes everything easier! No commute, etc… Thank God for that, at least.)
Ivan can help with some of it, but he’s not home much either (works in office, gone 8-6 at least every day). On the weekends, we are often “dividing and conquering” the kids’ stuff, splitting up and going in opposite directions. AND he’s hurt his back recently playing soccer (is currenting undergoing physical therapy), which means he actually physically can’t do some of the heavier yard work/household stuff, at the moment….
Every time I write a crabby-pants post, I feel a little guilty/ whiny, so, in an effort to re-frame, here’s a few good things, though:
- Hot weather= feels so good!!
- The boys have no school today! And they both slept over at friend’s houses last night, which they were super happy about. (I was excited for a kid-free evening, until I fell asleep on the couch. ha.)
- The birds, squirrels, rabbits, etc are all out in full force, and I LOVE watching them and listening to them. 🙂
- I’m almost 3 full weeks into my “back to gym” plan, and I’m at 100% completion! (with my 4x/ week strength workouts). THIS MAKES ME HAPPY!!!! No matter how busy I am, exercise is basically my hill to die on. I will not sacrifice this- it’s too important to how I feel. Physically, but more so, mentally.
- Asher and I got ice cream from the drive thru after school. This was really yummy, but it turned into a huge mess!!! LOL!! Something was off with the temp of the McDonald’s soft serve, I think! It was the drippiest ice cream I’ve ever had. Or maybe it was just our very hot, humid weather. I don’t know. I’m lucky I didn’t crash my van trying drive while frantically licking the dripping vanilla ice cream. 😂
- I walked the boys to the bus several times this week. I LOVE summer morning walks, especially with the boys. All the trees are flowering in the neighborhood, too- they are gorgeous!!
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for a new recurring monthly meeting being added to my schedule on Fridays, from 3:30- 4:30. !!! What the heck. No one wants a recurring meeting on late Friday afternoons. Okay, so I’m not grateful for that, but I’m grateful at least that I can attend virtually, from home?? Trying to look on the bright side. 🙂
GRATEFUL KAE 
May-hem is in full effect in my world too. I completely agree with you about activity vs screen time.
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May-hem. I LOVE THAT. hahahaha!! Perfect description. 😂
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We have the same hectic weekend schedule lately and I am NOT a fan. (Of course, I should not complain too hard since I just have the one child to ferry about!) But like you we have been having lovely summery weather, so I have that to be grateful for.
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It does make me feel better to know I’m not alone….I think EVERYONE is super busy in May/ end of school time. 🙂
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What?? A 3:30-4:30 monthly meeting on a Friday? Who is the evil person who scheduled that! That is just bad team play! No one wants to attend a meeting at that time of day on a Friday. Come on! So I guess the person scheduling it is expecting a really low level of engagement?!?
You do have a lot going on and when you are in the thick of it, it’s tough. This, too, shall pass. It doesn’t help that Ivan’s back is troubling him. We went through that last April – Phil hurt his back so badly that he couldn’t pick up either kid and then I got the stomach flu that same weekend!! It was so so awful. I hope he’s back to full strength soon. Soon enough the activities will be behind you and you’ll have a more relaxed schedule. I don’t think I know any parents who really love the end of the school year since it’s jam-packed with so many concerts, activities, parties, etc!
I am really bummed that I had to cancel our weekend plans as it’s going to be gorgeous tomorrow so it would have been the perfect day to go to the zoo! But I’m telling myself we’ll get more nice days like this. I just really want to get there while the baby farm exhibit is happening as I know the boys will really love that. But I’m also glad it’s going to be so nice outside this weekend as it’s way easier to entertain the boys when we can be outside! If I got covid in the middle of winter when our kids had to stay home for 20 days, I would have really lost my mind.
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Maybe your to-do list can wait until early retirement? Lol. Maybe you can outsource? I feel you on that crazy kid sports schedule! I think sometimes the organizers forget people have lives to live, haha.
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After noon on Fridays, ain’t nothing getting done at my workplace. I’ve gotten two easily deleted emails in the last two hours and am expecting nothing more. If someone scheduled a meeting late of Friday afternoon, I’d decline it. Ha!
I’ll admit this summery weather is getting me down. It’s too hot too soon and I’m dragging. I’m hoping the cooler weather this weekend helps and I hope it helps you with your running ragged all weekend, too!
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it’s great to balance complains with gratitudes, it’s like switching something in the brain to look the light instead of the dark. hehe…
that’s mom’s worry in general because we are always in charge of everyone’s schedule and households tasks. A friend told me that my husband seems chill. I said obviously because he doesn’t need to worry anything but himself… oh no, actually even himself is taken care by me. hahahah….
good job with keeping up with the gym! 4 times a week is impressive.
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What a busy weekend! Honestly, it would make me feel grumpy/overwhelmed! I’m stressed just reading about it.
I don’t have any solutions but can empathize about how it gets to a point of overwhelm that feels…panicky. Any chance you can take a vacation day or fit in some flex time during the week (when everyone else is gone) to have a few hours to power through the to-do list?
Hope things calm down a bit and you’re able to chip away at that working list bit-by-bit.
Is there anything that can be outsourced? I know sometimes it can take longer to hire someone and obviously there is a pricetag, but sometimes “throwing money at a problem” is a good solution.
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A recurring monthly meeting on a Friday at 3:30 pm??? What in the world??!!
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Oh, I can completely sympathize with the Friday afternoon meetings. Why, you ask? Well, because literally ALL of the meetings I am required to attend for my specific department are… on Fridays. And Mondays, of all days, are “no meeting days”.
Yeah, I’ve asked that question ever since I started – why can’t those be flipped? I mean, seriously – NO ONE wants to be in a meeting (virtual or in person) on Friday afternoons. No. One. Of course, this won’t changed until there is a change in leadership, and maybe not even then.
Sigh. So you can think of me, sharing your frustration and annoyance, when you have your Friday meetings. 🙂
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Oh- and get this!! Apparently they are “bi-monthly”, which I was thinking meant once every 2 months…. Nope! TWICE per month!! On Fridays at 3:30. 😩😩
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