Mommy's Project 52:27 Saving

Saving can be cool. For example, my mom saved the dress I wore for my one year old birthday. She gave it to me when I had a little girl and I put the dress on her and took pictures when she turned one. That turned out to be really cool and I was glad my mom had kept up with it all those years.

I have a difficult time with saving too much stuff from my kids. I have an entire tub of clothes from the two of them since they were born. I keep telling myself every time I try to add new things to go through and get rid of a few more outfits. I also have way too many preschool papers from my son. I figure a little time will help me whittle it down to a few dozen good samples.

How do you decide what to save? I am in a year long project to reduce the amount of paper in my house. I am in the process of setting up a virtual filing cabinet and scanning documents and receipts I want to keep. I have a whole file I did the other day waiting to be taken to the shreader. I don't know why but it is very difficult for me to get rid of stuff like that. I can go back and tell you the date of service and find the receipt for every medical claim and dental claim since we were married. Why do I like being able to do that? Will I ever need that knowledge after I file my taxes this year?

I want to be able to have some special stuff to give to my daughter when she grows up that she will appreciate like the one year old dress. Now if I can somehow separate that from all the other stuff I like to save. It seems that people are savers or throwers and I don't know many people that are in between. Are you a saver?

Mommy's Project 52:26 Networking

Networking. The kind of networking I do has changed in the phases of my life. When I was young and single it was a way to meet new people. In my career you needed to know different people in different departments and various locations. When you needed information or assistance, you always knew who to call or who could get something done about the situation.

With two big moves in the past two years, networking has been about survival. When you are in a new city with no friends or relatives you have to network quickly to get your family settled and into a normal routine as soon as possible. Where have I networked recently? You might laugh when I say story time at the public library, Jazzercise classes, and in line at the DMV. It is hard for me to be the one who initiates the conversation with a stranger. I have learned to put myself out there because with being in a new place I have to be the one who finds out what preschool has an opening mid-year, what pediatrician is accepting new patients, and where do you go to find the best breakfast burrito in town. It's all about networking.

Mommy's Project 52: 25 Making

Making things is a new favorite of my five year old son. There seems to be many projects out there for the five year old age group and my son has received several as gifts. We have been painting, gluing, and mixing our way through many little projects. It has become our thing during my daughter's nap time. I try to relax and enjoy this special time together and close my eyes to all the other things that seem to scream at me to be done. I'm assisting in the making of bouncy balls and painting dinosaurs. Our project for tomorrow is making my daughter's second birthday present. I took my son to the store to buy her a gift over the weekend and he looked at the toys and decided he wanted to make something instead. As I prepare for the birthday party on Saturday, I'm thinking I wish he would have just picked a gift from the store but we have it on the schedule for tomorrow that I will take time out to make his sister's gift with him. I am reminding myself that this is really a good idea.

Mommy's Project 52:24 Playing

Little kids "work" is playing. Here are my two kids hard at work with all the new toys from birthdays and Christmas. Let them play, play, play.

Mommy's Project 52:23 Dressing

Dressing to go outdoors has new meaning to me. When we lived near Houston, we either wore a light jacket in winter or it was too cold to bother going outside. Now that we live where there is more varied weather, we have to constantly adjust for the temperature. It can be 32 degrees in the morning when we head out to preschool and be almost 70 degrees by afternoon pickup so far this winter. I am still figuring out the best way to manage all the different footwear, coats, hats, and mittens.

We have a small bench for the kids to sit on and take off their shoes when they enter the house. In the bench each of the kids have cowboy boots, rain/snow boots, tennis shoes, and indoor house shoes. There seems to be always be a pile of shoes near the doorways to be collected and put away each day.

Then there is the hall tree. We added lower hooks so the kids could hang up their own coats and jackets. We each have two or three jackets/coats hanging ready depending on the weather. There is a heavy coat, a jacket with a hood, and then a long-sleeve light weight option. It always seems overcrowded but we use all the different options nearly each week.

Finally, we have the basket that is supposed to hold all hats, mitten, gloves, and ear warmers for all of us. The items never seems to be the basket so I am often hunting for them in the car, pockets, diaper bag, or on the floor. They seem to end up everywhere but the basket.

So you can see that I have lots more perfecting to do in my winter clothes management strategy. I have to admit that I am really enjoying wearing sweaters and layers after spending so many years in a warm climate.

Mommy's Project 52:22 Working

This entire family plans its schedule around Daddy's work schedule. Since I am staying home right now and neither of my kids are in school, everything revolves around when Daddy is off work or when Daddy gets home. This will all change. My oldest will enter kindergarten this fall and when my daughter is old enough to either start kindergarten (fall 2015) or even sooner if she goes into a full time preschool program, I will go back to work and life will change even more dramatically. I can't really comprehend how all that will work. So for now, I intend to enjoy this last spring semester before my son starts Kindergarten because then his school schedule will probably even dictate when Daddy can take his vacation. It will become the dictating schedule.

I mention that Mommy once had a job to my son and he said, "Mommy, you can't ever get a job. You need to take care of us." So for now this family is my work and my joy. But when I think of the word working, I am thinking ahead to a time when I must re-enter the work force. As with most things, when the time comes, I will probably do it slowly and re-enter a day or two at a time and the family will adjust to the new routine. As for now, I am thankful everyday that my work is my family.

On a side note - my in-laws came up for Christmas and are staying with us for a few days. My husband and I will be married 9 years on the 28th and we are leaving for a two day kid-free local get-away! I am so excited. Since we have no family nearby to watch our kiddos this will be an awesome treat. Merry Christmas and a Happy New 2012 to all!

Mommy's Project 52:21 Shopping

Shopping has changed since I had kids. With a 5 year old and an almost 2 year old with me in most cases, shopping has become a very planned process. Things I think about when preparing to go shopping with my kids.

Do I have a fully loaded diaper bag including snacks, drinks, and activities?

Does the place I am going have carts? Even better if they have big kid carts and/or carts in the shapes of cars or spaceships.

How wide are the aisles of the store? Bed, Bath, & Beyond, Michael's, or Hobby Lobby have way too narrow aisles.

When I get to the store I look to see if the cart is dirty, wet, cold, or has broken safety belts.

I check for sanitary wipes to wipe off the front of the cart.

I try to park next to a cart return so when I am finished shopping, it is easier to deposit kids back in car seats and return cart to the cart keeper.

While I am shopping, my attention is always split between quickly finding the items on the list and keeping up a conversation or eye on the kids. Someone is always losing a shoe, dropping a snack, or reaching for something.

You might think all of this takes a lot of time but it really doesn't. It is something I do without thinking. What made me think through this was my husband took the two kids alone to shop for Mommy for Christmas. I can't remember the last time he was out alone with the two kids shopping because if he is along, we are usually out as a family. I thought about running through my this-is-how-you-take-the-kids-shopping list but I decided that he really didn't want me to tell him how to do it. So I just kept my mouth closed. I will let him find his own way. I know they will have a great time shopping with dad.

I didn't have any pictures of us shopping so I call Dad on the cell phone and told him to snap a couple of pictures of them shopping. Here is what I got from his cell phone. Looks like fun!