Down time

Homemaking, especially mothering, is not like the typical workweek. There is never a typical homemaking week. Even the best schedules don't always work unless they are flexible. Homemakers will end up with Crazy Weeks and Downtime. This week appears so far to be Downtime.

Starting on Tuesday, Little Bernie and I came down with a bad cold together. For the past few days we've been staying mostly at home, resting frequently. The kitchen has remained clean, the laundry is pretty well caught up, but beyond that not much has been happening on the cleaning-and-repairing front.

Sometimes you just have to sit out for a bit. Sometimes downtime just happens. You can still make the most of it. I've done some paperwork, some organization at the desk. But some of it has just plain been quiet bonding time. Lil Bernie and I watch Disney movies together and discuss them. I take a moment to sit in the living room and enjoy the work I've been doing. Our pantry is still plentiful thanks to last week's preparations.

So next time you find yourself stuck in downtime, don't get into a guilt trip about it. Just relax, do some stuff you usually don't take the time for, and accept that this is the other side of the Crazy Week.

Just try to not let the dishes-washing slip...

Sunday for Rest

Tomorrow is Sunday. Me being the sort of Christian who attends church on Sundays, it is my day of rest. Now I don't have a problem with people who chose Saturday as a day of rest, or even Tuesday or Friday. I do feel that it is important to the health of a person, especially a homemaker, to have one day each week of rest.

I do not start or perpetuate huge projects on Sunday. Of course I'll cook and clean, I'll do dishes, even hang laundry, pick up around the house. But I do not engage in heavy projecting. I'll fabric-paint a shirt, or sew, or draw, because I enjoy doing these things. I enjoy my housework, too, but I won't move furniture about, change curtains, or alphabetize the DVD's on a Sunday. Instead, I take some time to contemplate.

I attend the church service in the morning and take notes on the sermon. Sometimes I'll look up the text on eSword just to see what other commentaries have said on it over the years. I'll also plan my week out, make lists of things I might make for supper and make sure my tasks are all entered into their various programs to remind me throughout the week.

Sometimes, well, maybe monthly or so, I'll have a time of introspection when I review my life goals, modify them as desired, and ask myself how I'm proceeding towards completing them. Tomorrow will be a day like that. I've been going through a lot of changes in my life with coming home and being a full-time housewife/mother just for the past three weeks. Time to evaluate what I've accomplished, what I have left to do, and how I can regain my motivation.