Mom and Sons: We Made It!

Yep, I made it through my first full time work week in years. The boys all took turns cooking dinner. Most of the time they had the dinner table set when I walked in the door. Laundry has been done; well, the clothes are cleaned and waiting on our couch to be folded. They did a great job overall. I love my kids!!! I'm very proud of them.

Home schooling has taken a beating somewhat. Only when my mom has been here has everything been done--on time. Tomorrow will be a "make-up day", but somehow I'll make it fun since it will be Saturday. Maybe it'll be a movie night if we get everything done. Will have to think about it.

I also did thoroughly enjoy going to happy hour with my oldest son. I have not seen him in a social setting in a very long time. I can't tell in words how much fun it is to talk and socialize with my adult son. We can agree, disagree, debate, laugh, etc. while enjoying a margarita and nachos. I LOVE MY KID, and I do love that he is out of the house.

You moms with little ones-- life with your precious babies does go fast, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy them when they move out too! No one ever told me that.

SIGH.

The Second Day: Yea and Oops

Today was another success--if you ignore that fact that I forgot to pick up my son from school. OOPS.

I have spent the last week writing down the schedule, where everyone has to be, and who is driving said person at what time. Yesterday and today, my husband, son, and mom have been perfect. Guess who forgot her responsibility? Me.

What is really ironic, is that I always pick up Ryan from school on Tuesdays and Thursdays! How could I forget? Actually, it was quite easy. Do you remember what it felt like to get out of school, waiting for that last bell to ring? Waiting, watching the second hand... Well, I relived that, and boy, when that last "bell" rang, I was out the door, running to the car--FREE. I couldn't wait to get home, see my boys, and get a few minutes of rest before teaching piano.

I was half way home before my brain registered that something was wrong. I suddenly remembered poor Ryan. So much for that quick trip home. I had to turn around and backtrack. Of course, as soon as I realized my mistake, Ryan was calling my cell phone, "Mom, where are you?" I told him I'd be right there, well, in ten minutes. It actually took me twelve minutes. Anyways, he was waiting patiently for me in the school office, reading a magazine. Not too bad, but still: Oops.

Now for the successes: I'm learning many different ways to think. However, there is a lot of reading, so by the end of the day, my eyes are dying. I'm really enjoying the job. Also, I came home, and Cam was making his dinner that he practiced last week. All was under control. So far, I'm impressed with the kiddos... Yea!

Day Two Down!

photo creditr3v || cls

Started Working Full Time Today

Well, today I started working full time, outside the home. I left Corporate America after our third son was born, so it has been years! I have to admit it was fun to be out of the house, using my brain in a new, challenging way. New people, new environment, new responsibilities... no problem! Right?

I have to admit that I had questions as to whether or not I would be successful. However, I just listened, took notes, and asked questions. I felt very confident by the end of the day--that I had done my best. I was no longer worried about success.

So how did everything go at home? First, I was happy that the house had not burned down. Second, I saw the boys getting dinner. The table was set. The boys argued about what time to eat. They argued about who was going to cook muffins, rice, or ?? They each wanted something different. Third, I had to teach piano lessons, so I only had time to encourage them to work together.

By the time I was done teaching, dinner was over. I saw the muffin tin in the sink, so I knew that muffins won. I have no idea who mixed and baked them. No one bragged to me. I only saw the boys were all reading or doing home work. Really!

Then Nick started a load of laundry. When the washing machine stopped, Stuart moved the clothes from the washer into the dryer. They were working together!!!

Maybe I should have started this working thing a while ago... there were no problems. Day One Down.

The Countdown Begins: Second Task: Dinners

We have slowly tackled dinners. Over the last several days, I have doubled the recipe for whatever meat dish we made for dinner. We ate half, and froze half. So now we have enough meat dishes for a week.

The only problem here is that I will be working (I hope) longer than one week. The next step to tackling dinner was asking all the boys to learn to cook one complete meal.

Cameron stepped up and volunteered to cook dinners on Tuesday. I asked him what he wanted to make. He looked in the fridge, and he came back with a menu: hot dogs, apples, carrots, and muffins. That's not bad for a nine year old. The menu was definitely kid-friendly. Now to see Cam in action.

I walked Cam through each step. We started with muffins. Since all the boys are gluten-free, we made muffins with rice flour, potato flour, and tapioca flour. Within 30 minutes, we had homemade muffins, complete with cinnamon. I made sure Cam knew how to check if the muffins were done with the toothpick. If it comes out of the muffin "clean", the muffins are done.

The hot dogs came next. He started to boil water while the muffins were in the oven. He opened the package of hot dogs, and the "juice" spilled. Well, he saved the hot dogs from flying out, but he did have to clean the "juice". While the hot dogs cooked, Cam cut the carrots and apples.

Dinner that night was colorful and easy. Cam was extremely proud of his meal!

photo credit:Alesist

The Countdown Begins: First Task: Laundry

Over the last ten days the boys and I have discussed what they will have to do while I am working full time. Some of them volunteered to do extra responsibilities. Others were volunteered by me.

Nick volunteered to do the laundry. He already knew how to separate the colors. Yea. He proceeded to stuff everything in the washing machine. I had to gently tell him to keep the clothes loose, so that the water and soap could actually clean.

Then I made the mistake of answering the phone while Nick put in the soap. Upon my return I saw soap covering all the clothes. I asked him how much he put in. He responded, "Enough." Trying not to flinch, I showed him how much he should have put in, two tablespoons. He shyly whispered that he put in about five more. Since we make our own laundry soap, I was not too sure what the result would be. I could imagine the movie scene, where the machine oozes bubbles throughout the house. Alas, no such thing happened.

Then the next morning I found those same clothes still in the washing machine. I asked Nick about putting them in the dryer. "But you didn't say I had to!" Is this a mom thing or what? When clothes are put in the washing machine, they have to go in to dryer...

So I reran the load, and then put them in the dryer. The clothes came out fine. Now they sit on the couch because no one has said, "Please fold your clothes."

It's become quite obvious that what I think is obvious is not to the boys. They need specific directions, but then again, I have been doing this for years. It is very easy to forget how I learned, yet I want them to master these tasks NOW. Nick responded quite well to suggestions and compliments. Gee, I prefer those too!

photo credit: antwerpenR

Self Preservation: Adapt

It's been two weeks since I have posted "life", but "life" is surely happening. In the last two weeks, our floors were FINALLY replaced. We can now put furniture in a normal arrangement. All of our belongings are finding their homes. It is so nice to have some order again. The boys are adjusting from the temporary norm to what was the norm.

I have been offered a full time job. It is seasonal, so I don't know how long it will last. In light of this wonderful economy, I have accepted this job. I know it'll make life very interesting, not that life isn't already. I hope that my boys will adjust, and they will become more independent. More than likely, they will be fine, and I will be the one worrying about how they are managing.

I will keep home schooling my boys as well a maintaining my self-employment. There is no doubt that this could get stressful, but I do look forward to the challenge. It is good to have some twists and turns in life; it's a chance for growth. That is only going to happen if there is a need to adapt or adjust. Just like my boys had to adapt with our house being torn up, I will have to adjust to some new demands.

In my next post, I will write about how I am preparing the boys and myself for this new gig.