Day 2: Help!

Ya know, this setting your house in order thing is a whole lot harder than I thought! After my attempt to organize my bedroom yesterday, I thought I'd set my sights lower for today. Today, I just wanted things to go smoothly. To stick to the routine. To take care of what needed to be taken care of, and beyond, if possible. Not so, when your daughter is the Queen of Chaos! I suppose things weren't too bad today (after all, I didn't have to clean urine off the floors). Jared took Jason to school, so I didn't have to worry about that (though Jason reports that he was late to class, grrr...). Hayden woke up around 8:30, and while I showered, she pulled out both mine and Jared's dresser drawers and scattered their contents throughout the bedroom. It took me half an hour to put things back the way they were. I was really looking forward to naptime, so I could have those 2 wonderful hours to finish cleaning my room, and maybe even have a bit of lunch. Unfortunately, Hayden had other plans, and they didn't include a nap. I tried for over an hour to put her down. She'd lay in her crib for about 5 minutes, then scream until I came and got her. By the time this had happened twice, it was within 30 minutes of when I have to pick up Jason from school, so I just loaded her into the car and hoped she fall asleep on the way. No such luck. She was wide awake, jabbering, and trying to run WILD the rest of the afternoon, as we picked up Jason, did our grocery shopping, at the doctor's office getting Jason's H1N1 vaccine, and finally at Starbucks, for Jason's Strawberry Frappuccino (his reward for "taking it like a man" at the doctor's). By the time we made it back home, I was exhausted, but still had to throw together a quick dinner before heading back out to help out with the Young Women's etiquette dinner tonight.

So after a busy and rather frustrating day, I've been thinking about ways I can calm my frenzied mind. After all, if I'm ever to set my house in order, I figure that I should be in order, myself. I thought about meditation, but I've never really understood how to do that effectively. Whenever I sit down to meditate, I have a tendency to start thinking about all the things I need to do, which only makes me more frantic. So that's out. I think that for me, I find calm in escape. Sometimes, when I have Jared home to watch the kids, it's a total escape. I like to go out and see a movie. By myself. Then, I can be away from everything and everyone, and involve myself in a story that has absolutely nothing to do with me. When I can't do that, I like to read. I always keep a book on my bedside table and I like to end my evenings by reading a chapter or two. This at least, lets my mind escape for a little while, and I can find a momentary calm, which is about all I can hope for until it all starts again tomorrow!