motherhood

I'm beginning to get the hang of this "mother" thing, and it has only taken me two years (famous last words - I know as soon as I publish this post, the sky will open up and a reign of toddler terror will engulf me the size of which has never been seen before)!

The hardest part of being a mom, for me, is not the diapers or the temper tantrums, but the tedium of everyday life. Everyday is the same - we wake up with an entire day ahead of us and my job is to entertain and expose this child to a variety of experiences that will open her mind and broaden her horizons while working around her nap and food schedules. But I'm tired. And there is only so many times you can go to the zoo before the thought of looking at another gorilla makes you break out in hives. And I'm still struggling with this awful hormonal post-pardon depression thing which does NOT make getting out of the house any easier.

So, I decided to simply my life. Awhile back I discovered that if I made the same dinner menu every week we saved a ton of money on ingredients (not as much stuff went bad and we could buy in bulk) and I no longer stressed about what I was going to make for dinner that night (its Friday, therefore it is pizza night - easy). I decided to do this sort of thing with parenting.

Tuesday is zoo or aquarium day
Wednesday is story time at Barns and Noble followed by carousel ride
Thursday is library day
Friday is museum day followed by picnic in the park
Saturday is friends day
Sunday and Monday are family days with daddy

Easy.

Of course the key to happiness is flexibility so these are not set in stone but rather a blueprint for a day so that I have one less thing to stress about at 7am.

I've also been walking/jogging every evening after dinner which has really helped with the depression thing.

Like I said - I've got things figured out for now... I'm sure everything will change tomorrow but I'll face that hurdle when I reach it.