Changes

After months of dealing with the aforementioned stress, I have made some changes to my life.

Mainly, I am going to take this mothering business more seriously. While it is not that I have been a funny-haha-joking around kind of mother, it is just, let's be honest, I have outsourced a lot of my mothering. To tell you the truth, I didn't potty train my kids. I didn't teach them how to tie shoe laces. I didn't teach Aidan how to read, or add, or subtract, or multiply, or divide. I have tried to love them, but I do get other people to teach my kids stuff. (In case we are keeping score though, I have taught Aidan how to read music and play the piano.)

A whole lot of this is about to change.

I am becoming a tiger mom. A DIY tiger mom. Hear me ROAR!

 This can all end very badly. But with the grace of Jesus, there is hope for this mother.

I have elected to not use aftercare for the kiddos. I realize this is a huge privilege to be able to work as much/as little as I want to, and to "hang" with them as much/as little as I want to. Hubby really spoils me silly.

The plan is that I will work while the kids are at school. (Therefore, as American children are at school for so few hours each day, I will also be working very few hours. I think some of my patients think I don't take my paying job seriously. In case you are wondering though, I take my way of earning money very seriously. VERY. SERIOUSLY.) I will finish my day at 2:30, pick Aidan up at 2:40, get Zoe at 3, and boom. Home by 3:20. We will do homework, Kumon, piano, Chinese, and Scripture memorization! Then we go to hockey/ballet/figure skating! I will be relaxed and they will be happy!

I realize the last sentence of the previous paragraph is completely delusional. I am willing to trade relaxation and happiness for productivity and over-achieving. That's right, I am going to crack the whip, figuratively speaking, of course. Taking time to whip children will decrease one's productivity. (Perhaps you are thinking of calling CPS, don't worry, we really don't spank our kids.)

These past few weeks have been a foretaste of the rest of my life, and I gotta say, it is weird to be with A&Z this much. We are getting so much done! I do feel much less stressed! Yet there are more opportunities for me to annoy them, and vice versa!

For instance, I have to take them with me to do groceries now and when we are at the store, there are lots of opportunities for me to deny their requests and pleasures. (I used to shop while they were being taught something or other by someone else.) On the bright side, I see this as training for endurance, for all of us. We have already decided that we need to pray for good attitudes. I will let you know how it goes.