My house will be clean someday (I hope)

Apparently I find it more interesting to write about crazy adventures in parenting than the times when it all goes well, but there are quite a few things going well. Whereas Austin has his moments like anyone, most of the time he’s a smiley and ridiculously patient baby who even likes to sleep in (finally a kindred spirit!). Parker can certainly be a handful at times, but he’s usually a happy, super sweet, crazy smart and curious little bundle of energy who always makes us laugh. So I figure I must be doing something right.That being said, my challenge right now is trying to fit everything in. When my kids are awake I want to largely devote my time to playing with them, but I have to get dressed, eat, try to keep the house from being a complete disaster (something I’ve been failing to do too often), do laundry (and I thought I had a lot of laundry to do when it was just Parker–it’s practically constant now), take care of my various other responsibilities (like the ridiculous stacks of papers that I REALLY need to sort through someday), exercise (been trying to get that going again lately), spend time with my husband,  have some time for me, get some sleep… you get the idea. You would think that being home on maternity leave would mean I could get stuff done, so why does it feel like I can’t get anything done?!? What is supposed to give? Do I give up sleep? Do I spend the majority of my kids’ awake time getting stuff done around the house? It seems like everything is a priority, but I know I need to strike some sort of balance– I’m just not quite sure what that is yet.

(Part of the problem is we have major space issues… two kids, a dog, and us in an 1160 sqft condo… help!)

Here’s the progress I’ve made so far. I’ve eliminated my naps (really needed them in the early days with Austin but am ok without them now). I don’t sleep in as much now. I love my morning snuggles with Austin, but most days I get up and going at a reasonable hour now unless it was a particularly bad sleep night. I’m working on my multitasking: finding productive things I can do while feeding Austin and trying to get more done during Austin’s awake time (while still making sure we get our time together). I even have managed to go grocery shopping with the boys (went shockingly well!) and figure out how to take care of both boys’ evening routine (for the most part) so my overworked husband can have some much needed downtime. Tonight when Clint came home the downstairs was clean (relatively speaking) and I was cooking dinner (real cooking!)… it was like he had a domesticated wife, haha!

So I’m making progress, but there is still lots of room for improvement. I dream of an immaculate, organized house and me just happily playing with my boys, but I’m guessing that’s not realistic. I’ll settle for a relatively clean and organized household, happy kids and happy parents. So I know there are some multitasking, efficient, organized people out there, so please… share your secrets with me!!