September Quarterly

9.28.2021


October starts the last quarter of the year! I feel like 2021 has been kind of a blur somehow. I would say the days are long, the years are short, but actually the days seem so short too in this season. I'm working at home full time, and my daily routine is getting everyone up, dressed, and fed breakfast (old fashioned oatmeal with brown sugar is our daily choice at the moment!), getting the kids to drop-off, coming home to work, going for a run on my lunch break, working some more, picking the kids up, dinner/bedtime, an hour or two of alone time at night that goes way too fast, and then I try to be in bed by 10:00, though sometimes it's more like 10:30. Does anyone still stay up past 11 anymore? Maybe don't answer that. I know I'm old and boring.

I asked on my Instagram if anyone had any questions or topics they'd be interested in me covering in this month's update, and I got a few, so here we go!

MARATHON TRAINING

Several people asked me to talk about marathon training, but I know not everyone is interested, and since I assume I'm going to have a lot to say, I'm going to work on a whole post about all things running, to be published hopefully by the weekend. I'll try to work on it later this week. My race is less than 2 weeks away, so I'm currently in taper mode. 

BABY F

Baby F is really not so much a baby anymore, and these days he's getting into e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. His newest trick is sitting on top of the kitchen table, because he realized that he can climb onto the chairs by himself SO THAT'S GREAT. I love milestones!

He wants to be everywhere the big kids are, but he doesn't quite understand that he's not a big kid himself, so he's spending his days waddling around and making everyone mad by knocking over magnatile towers completely on purpose and stealing matchbox cars from J's very specific lineup and then running away with a huge grin on his face.

He doesn't say a whole bunch of words, but he can say a few, and he's getting much more expressive and vocal about basically anything that's happening.


PARENTHOOD WITH THREE

Someone asked me to talk about spending time with each kid when you have multiples. In this current season, I feel like our routine includes time with me and R basically every day. I put F to bed at 6:30, Jordan puts J to bed soon after, and R and I read books or color for a half hour or so every night before she goes to bed around 7:30. 

I usually can grab time with F while the other two are occupied in the evening. There's a bit of time after dinner and before bedtime where everyone plays, and while I do NOT want to give the impression that R and J play perfectly together (because they DO NOT), they have been doing a better job recently than they ever have before, which is fun to watch and encouraging.

J is the hard one for me to get alone time with, because usually F is around and being needy. On the weekends when I'm home all day, I try to spend 10 minutes of quiet time while F is napping with R and with J. I set a timer for 10 minutes, and then when it's up I move to the next kid. It doesn't always happen, but I try. During the week, I honestly don't always feel like I'm able to spend alone time with J every day, just due to what's currently working with our bedtime routine; but I do try and give him specific attention when I can, even just a moment here or there, which hopefully is better than nothing.

KINDERGARTEN

I was pretty anxious as the school year approached about what our new dropoff/pickup routine would look like. The kids had been all at the same daycare, but now that R was going to kindergarten I was having to go to two locations in the morning and afternoon. 

I never would have expected, but it's actually been going really well and feels much easier than it did before, 100% due to the fact that Jordan is home to help. Before, he would leave the house before we did, so I was getting everyone up and dressed and fed on my own. Now, we wake up the kids at 6:15, almost an hour earlier than we used to, and he is able to help with the dressing and the feeding and the getting everyone in the car. It's been a great change for me.

SOCCER

Our big thing this month was J starting soccer! I admit that I always thought it was a little ridiculous to pay for a 4-year-old to play a sport. But he loves to run and is pretty good at kicking a ball, and we thought he would love it. And we were right! He has had 2 games so far, practice for 1 hour once a week, and he is having a blast. It's so cute seeing all the kids chasing the ball around the field, and last weekend he scored a few goals, which was so fun!


PODCASTS

This is a season of podcasts for me, and what a time to be alive! You can find someone talking about nearly any topic you can imagine, all for free. I listen to podcasts while I'm on a run, while driving home from daycare dropoff, while doing mindless busywork during the workday, and while cleaning the house. Current favorites (in no particular order):

-Scrapbook Your Way (my current nerdy favorite! A podcast all about scrapbooking!)
-The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill (currently in the middle of this series)
-The Megyn Kelly Show (I like when she brings on guests from different sides to discuss current issues)
-The Village Church Sermons (Matt Chandler's series on the book of Revelation was soooo good)
-Office Ladies (The Office rewatch podcast)
-Java with Juli (I really enjoy some of these conversations; I don't listen to every single episode)
-Drama Queens (One Tree Hill rewatch podcast)
-Good Inside with Dr. Becky (parenting)
-Unruffled (Respectful Parenting)
-Mama Bear Apologetics (parenting)
-Risen Motherhood (motherhood)

Podcasts my kids love:
-God's Big Story
-The Story Pirates

ON BEING CONTENT

Now for probably the most thoughtful topic I got: how to be content with what you have. That's certainly something a majority of people struggle with, including me. This is going to sound so cliche, but honestly, I do notice such a difference when I spend less time on social media. When I'm just doing my thing, with my people, I feel (generally speaking) great about my life and what I have. 

It's when I start seeing what everyone else has that I realize, oh hey, I think it would be nice to have that too but I don't have it and I want it but I can't get it because of this and this and this reason (money, space, time, location etc etc).

Whenever that feeling of discontentment or jealousy does poke at me, I try to remember to ask myself: do I REALLY want/need that thing, or do I just feel like I want it because I saw that they had it? Another phrase I'm working on: Good for them, not for me. Sometimes when I start feeling discontent, I take a step back and rationally examine the situation. Is this actually feasible for my lifestyle, for my goals, for my personality? In theory I might think I want this or that, but in reality I don't because it would mean changing something or a few things about my life that I actually like. It's good for them that they can do xyz, but it's not for me.

Now of course, changing things about your life to pursue goals and dreams and other thing you really do want is an entirely different conversation, but sometimes I find that the thing that seems "ideal" that someone else has is not, in reality, something I actually want for me. Does that make any sense?

Anyway, not sure if that helped at all, but those are a few thoughts on this late-night Tuesday. I'd love to hear any thoughts you have about how to be content. It's definitely something that goes in spurts for me.

Running/marathon post coming up next, and this way those of you who would rather walk across a floor filled with dried play-doh on bare feet than read a single word about running can just skip on by.

Jenny Evans said...

Oh, your cute family.

If you want my two cents (which I know you do, everyone does) I think most parents stress out too much over one-on-one time.

As long as you're having regular interactions that show each kid that you love, like, and care about him/her, it really doesn't matter if (1) there are other siblings in the room, (2) it happens in short bursts here in there, or (3) you're doing chores/errands instead of a fun leisure activity. It all counts.

Audrey Louise said...

I think you're doing a really wonderful job. As someone who was around back in the early R daycare days, your shift in perspective and outlook on life with 3 kids and a fulltime job is incredible! I'm glad you're able to focus on each kid and yourself, even if it's just for a little bit. I think your take on contentment is just right. And I'm about to start digging into the Unruffled podcasts!

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