It Takes A Village

It takes a village...to raise our children! How does your weekly schedule flow? I had a conversation this week with a friend whose kids are grown, thereby allowing mom and dad to travel at a moment's notice.

Right now that's not my reality. "Spontaneous" requires pre-potty breaks, sippy cups, and a "pack-n-play". As I pine for my seven year old to get her driver's license, I simultaneously hope she never grows up. My kids are not inconvenient, but performing life's basics sure can get hectic. Take this week, for example.

Jana has required training classes which are offered during the day. We are currently only prepared to balance our schedules when she works the evening shift. So weeks like this throw us the proverbial curve ball. We try to find as much babysitting we can, then fill in the gaps. An 8 hour work day is broken into three segments over a 16 hour span. The average day looks like this:

Daddy goes to Bible study at 6 for an hour. Mommy leaves at 7:15am. Dad wakes up girls, cooks pancakes (okay only once this week), waits on the table, races to get Junior, changes Junior's diaper (worthy of a medal of honor in its own right), feeds Junior, brushes girls' hair (maybe even adding a barrett - but no pony tails), loads girls in car, cleans Junior, dresses Junior, throws Junior in the car, drops child 1 at school, drops child 2 at school, takes Junior for a run, showers, writes blog, feeds Junior, picks up child 2 at school, takes two youngest to babysitter's house, goes to work, picks up youngest 2, picks up eldest, awaits babysitter #2's arrival, returns for work. Meanwhile, Momma returns home, she cleans, takes youngest to doctor for unplanned weekly visit (yes another trip this week!), cooks dinner, bathes kids, does laundry, waves to hubby at 8pm when he finally returns home.

You can see: no room for spontaneity and it takes a village to raise our kids. Babysitter #1's name is Alison - she is great. She even does our dishes! Because she doesn't mind adding more kids, her name is being advertised here. Babysitter #2's name - Not So Fast. No she's not a slow runner, but she only has room on her schedule for one family. And despite our Christian focus - WE AIN'T TELLING YOU WHO IT IS.

Anyway, we've been blessed with these two great babysitters, but so many others have helped us: moms, dad, Diane, Michele, Laura, and others. How blessed we are! How unspontaneous we've become! That trip to Hawaii was a lifetime ago, but I'm listening to friends and mentors who've been here. "Enjoy it," they say. And I am. We are. Plus we're picking up valuable skill development. How else could you learn to type with one hand, drink a latte, and feed your son in your lap?