I report

We tried some new things this week. First off, I decided I needed to enjoy my children more. I really DO like being home with them and I really DO like them. I just get overwhelmed sometimes with their constant needs and wants and whining. I decided I wanted to have a better attitude, and I wanted to enjoy being with them more. So I worked on that. When Delaney came up to me wanting something, I tried more often to put aside what I was doing and take time to be with her. When Rylee needed snuggling, I tried to give her that lap time, rather than trying to distract her. When Marian wanted to talk about things, I tried to give her my attention and actually talk with her, rather than just inserting random "Hmmmm, how interesting"s.

How did it go? Well, there were still a lot of times where I was not thrilled with my children, but there were a lot of times they really were fun to be with. Walking home with Delaney and pretending with her was quite funny. She has a great imagination! Riding Marian's scooter was pretty thrilling, although I may be a little too old to be cruising around like that! I think I laughed more with the kids this week, and I do feel like I enjoyed them more.

I chose to be home with them. This is where I want to be. And If I am going to be here, I want to enjoy it. So I am going to continue to work on finding the moments that are great, and taking the time to enjoy being the mom.

Secondly, I finally, finally got a workable chore chart together. The kids are pretty good about doing things we ask them, but we felt ready to tackle a regular and consistent method this week. The results were good. It was nice to have a designated table-setter, and there was a lot less complaining about it getting done. The dining room was significantly cleaner this week, which was wonderful!! The sweeper, may not have gotten all the stuff off the floor every night, and may have simply swept it all into a pile, but at least it was a huge improvement. Plus, Callie was thrilled to do it and inspired her younger sisters to tackle the rest of the rooms in the house with the dust mop. Having a child designated to wipe down the table necessitated me getting all the dishes off said table and has kept the table much cleaner throughout the day. An added bonus was getting to see Marian with wet-wipes on her hands and her knees wiping down the table. I let the crawling on the table slide, since she WAS cleaning it thoroughly!

While Delaney may not have been the best dishwasher, she was certainly an enthusiastic one and the dishes were ready for the dishwasher when she was done with them. And she had a great time doing it. So I will say that the chore chart has been a rousing success thus far. I hope that when the excitement of a new routine wears off, that they will still have it as a habit.

It was a good week, and I'm sorry for the lack of posts. I was busy spending time with my children!