Three Years of Motherhood, Seven Months Juggling Two and a Triple Espresso To Go Please

Well here we are three whole years in the thick of it and I can honestly say I have no idea what the hell I used to do with all my free time. Actually I constantly find myself wondering what I did when I only had one child because two is a whole different level of chaos and exhaustion.

To help eliminate some of this chaos I have streamlined things a bit, learned to say no, left dishes unwashed and clothes in the washing machine and cut back massively on screen time, which is why blogging is kind of a thing of the past. At this point I want to keep it up for the sake of my children's memories but struggle to find the time or motivation to write.

I realised things were spiralling out of control about a month ago at our swimming lesson. I suddenly thought to myself, "Why the hell am I driving to swimming on two different occasions when I could bring both kids on the same day, save multiple showers and bathing suit changes and free up another day for hiking and climbing?"

Best. Decision. Ever.  Monday is now swimming day, Tuesday is for yoga, Wednesdays are free for hiking or catching up with friends and there is usually at least one nice granny or mother at the side of the pool to help Cyril load another show on his Kindle when I'm swimming with Sage.

At this point we have a relatively solid routine but it does mean saying no a lot which is super hard for me. I even turned down an invitation to lunch at my friend's house today, which I would never do, for the sanity of our family.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I have to say no in order to allow more time to say yes to my children and me. I want to start doing more of what I enjoy and less of what I think I should be doing. More me time, less running around from one activity to the next.

My motto since becoming a mother has been to simplify, but a month ago I realised that while I had simplified our house and toys in a massive way I had yet to do the same to our schedule. Suddenly I found myself running around the house racing from one activity to the next and I hated myself for it. Now our schedule it very manageable and we have 3 days where if we want to stay in our pyjamas, paint, dance in the rain and leave the house an absolute disaster we can. Or if a friend asks if I'm up for a hike I usually say, "Yes but can I get a triple espresso to go please?" Because lets be honest, even with a schedule that can breathe I'm still parenting 2 children under 4 and that shit takes a hell of a lot of coffee or in my friend Emily's case a mass quantity of herbal tea, I still can't figure that one out but then I'm American.