Tuesdays at My House

As much as I try, as much as I work, plan, and pray over those plans, something continues to throw a "monkey-wrench" in to my day.

This morning, out of sheer exhaustion, I turned off my alarm that was set at 6AM so I could get up before everyone else, exercise, get my own personal hygiene done, then get breakfast started.  While my body clock woke me at 7AM, that meant my exercising and personal hygiene had to be put off to another time to make sure breakfast was started and moving at a decent hour.

Now, I'm going to stop here and answer a question that I'm sure is running through your mind.  Why can't those "young adults" get up to make breakfast for the family?  Usually they do, and they have been since long before both of my surgeries in Feb 2015 & July 2016.  Things are changing, bodies are changing, needs are changing, sleep patterns are changing, and change we must if we are to continue and have a productive life.  So, within the past 2 weeks, I've realized my youngest son does not eat until he "remembers" later on in the day which happens to be around 2PM.  He's busy, he does school work, chores, drinks coffee, does more school, does things for his Daddy when he gets home, works on forging knives, then just forgets to eat. I could sit back and do our personal family business in the morning while he makes breakfast, but I realized they really don't like pulling together a Trim Healthy Mama meal for me, unless it is something they would like to eat.  Yes, THM is good body/brain food, but they just don't like putting together shakes, muffins in a mug, anything really that can be labeled THM.  So, I thought I'd come up with a plan!

Mondays-Shakes--whatever I feel like or have on hand.  Yesterday it was a Strawberry Cheesecake Shake.  And my oldest didn't have any GERD issues with it!  Yeah!

Tuesdays-Eggs & Bacon--this morning I made home fries because I thought they would like that.  I use to make them and throw it all together in one skillet, but separating them allowed me to stay "on plan."

Wednesdays-Muffin in a Mug--not sure what I'm going to feel like tomorrow.  I may do an Apple Cinnamon muffin, but we'll see.

Thursdays-Grits--just for my youngest. Since moving to Georgia, he LOVES them!  In my Sunday School class occasionally someone brings grits, so I text him really quick before class starts to let him know.  He shows up right after his class is done just to get some grits.  LOL  I'll probably have cottage cheese with sunflower nuts.  😉

Fridays-Yogurt, Fruit, & Nuts--more for me than anything else.  I'll make it up and if they want it, they'll eat it.  If not, they can do something else.

While one of the greatest purposes for my planning and doing things in this fashion is to make sure my youngest eats, it also brings the 4 of us together to at least pray together, talk for a little bit, and start our day right.  We've been "hit and miss" with everyone's crazy schedules lately, so it's time to bring us back to the table, back together to love one another.

Now to work on my dinner menus!  That, in and of itself, is going to be one of the biggest challenges yet!  I'd love to stay "on plan" but with everyone's varied needs, and etc, things are difficult, at best.  Believe me when I say that I've tried making THM for everyone, but adding in some "on plan" cross overs for meals.  Eventually, my husband who goes through phases of feeling like he can never get satisfied, inevitably goes for the chips, pb&j's, ice cream, nuts and everything else AFTER dinner.  Ugh!  The grocery bill is seriously a concern for me!  So, I pray about what to do, observe, and try to "go with the flow."

For now, Mondays is hot dogs or hamburgers with fixins.  I don't use a bun, so it's all good.  Tuesdays is whatever everyone feels like.  Wednesdays I'm struggling with eating at church, which I love because I don't have to make dinner and there is wonderful fellowship, but I feel like we should eat here, then go to church.  Once again, a struggle.  Thursdays is whatever we feel like (see, no planning!), Fridays I've been giving over to my oldest son to plan and execute, and another day for my daughter when she's off work.  My youngest son does the grilling, so that's about it.  I'm kind of in limbo right now, so we'll see how I can pull things together.

Well, it's time for me to go get some lunch, which is always either a sandwich on sourdough with low-low-low fat stuff on it, or an "S" salad.  It makes things easy.  😎

Have a Blessed Day!

Mondays at My House

I love Mondays.  Yes, I do!  But, I love every other day of the week for it's various assigned things to do as well.  Mondays are like "let's start fresh" and I love it.

My Mondays are days when I exercise again because I don't purposely exercise over the weekend.  My plans and things look different over the weekend, so it makes sense to just start my day with exercise while everyone is still sleeping.

I love getting back to school with my youngest, getting back in to the groove of schooling and routine.

I plan on Sundays for my week, not heavily, but just getting my brain wrapped around what I need to get done.  Since we finished class days at our homeschool group this past Friday, my days are going to look a little different now.  I'll be spending my Fridays differently, but still planning for next 17-18 school year when classes start again.

Mondays are our "clean up from the weekend" days.  Wrappers that have been forgotten, stray papers, cups, that everyone has forgotten and a host of other things are cleaned up, put away, and things generally tidied up.  As much as I try to clean up after myself when I get up from where I'm sitting, everyone else doesn't follow suit and it gets old reminding everyone of everything.  So, we just clean up Monday mornings.  It works!

Mondays are also days when I "start fresh" with cleaning up the bathroom that is ours.  Why not all the bathrooms?  Well, each of my young adults have their own bathrooms to tend to.  At this time we're getting things together to get the poolhouse bathroom pulled together.  Although there isn't a lot to do, there's still things to purchase to pull it together.  When it is, it will be assigned to one of my young adults.  👍🙌

I need to also set aside time to plan menus.  Strangely enough, having been a person who has planned meals up to 3 months in advance, I have not planned ahead for  meals for quite a while.  I would love to do that, but with the crazy schedules we've been having between my daughter and husband working strange hours and my sons doing Civil Air Patrol things, it makes planning quite challenging.  Then add to that someone who just doesn't feel like eating what we're having, so they go out and buy their own meal.  While that meal may be Ramen noodles and only costs $1, it pretty much makes me feel rather defeated at the time.  I've made preparations and etc for healthy food, so they should eat it right?  Well, I have to choose my battles.  Come to find out, they come out to the refrigerator late at night to get something to eat and invariably reheat what we had for dinner, so it eventually gets eatten!  I still struggle with this, though.

Having young adults in the house is challenging.  I feel like I have to walk a fine line between being a drill sergeant and someone who gives them authorship of their chores and when they need to get done.  There are issues there as well with mental health issues, ADHD issues, medication affects on some, so the juggling is challenging.

So, this Monday, I'm doing what I can do to ensure that the area I'm in charge of is clean, neat, and tidy.  I am in charge of the whole house, yes, but my own chores are in the area of my office/sitting room, our bathroom, bedroom and hallway.  If those are not clean, it is my fault.  I need to be the one setting an example to those under my roof of routine, diligence, and getting things done.  Yes, they are young adults and the expectation is for them to get their things done.  Unfortunately, reminders need to be given.  One day reminders will not need to be given.  One day this entire house will fall on my shoulders to clean daily.  When that happens my routine will change, but until then, this is how things are.

One day they will each have their own homes, by the grace of God.  They will be in charge of getting everything cleaned up without our prompting.  Hopefully, they will each see the need to keep things neat and tidy, eventually.  For now, they are a work in progress, just like me.

Have a Blessed Monday!