Priorities, Revisited
Over the last few weeks of thinking about correct priorities and how to better order my days so that they are win-win (Noah gets played with and I accomplish things), I had a friend suggest the one tip that has made the biggest difference once I started practicing it. It's so simple, yet so pivotal.
Are you ready?
"Do everything in bite-sized pieces." Simple, isn't it?
Normally I prefer to have big chunks of time in which to get my household chores, devotions, blogging, and computer work done. The thought of being able to get all my chores done in a couple hours in the morning was heavenly, so I used to try to do that. The problems started arising because Noah's attention span is so short where mine is so long. I'd be vacuuming the entire house, inwardly fuming that Noah could not understand what I meant when I said "After I finish this, I'll play with you." The 20-30 minutes for that particular task was an eternity to him.
My dear friend suggested I operate my day based on Noah's attention span. Play with him for 10-15 minutes, then vacuum for 5. Play with him for 10 minutes, pick up clutter for 10 minutes. Once I started doing this, my life changed. Noah is not constantly asking me to play with him anymore because his needs for attention are being met, and my housework is surprisingly getting done! This particular post, for example, has been written over the course of today a bit at a time.
Another suggestion that has been very helpful came from a reader of this blog, Jenny, who suggested I let Noah help with as many of the household tasks as I can, even if he slows me down or I have to redo his work later. This has also been wonderful, as he loves spraying Windex and doing anything he can to help. I might as well take advantage of his willing spirit while I can! (I've commented to Josh that I find it ironic that kids are most willing to help when they have the least amount of ability. By the time they are physically capable of doing actual helpful work, they lose their desire!) Though it definitely slows me down to have 2-year-old help, it satisfies Noah's intense ache to be helpful, and uses up some more of that time that he would otherwise be begging me to play with him. There's only so much playing I can handle in a day! :)
So thank you, friends, for your ideas! Life around here is going much more smoothly.
Are you ready?
"Do everything in bite-sized pieces." Simple, isn't it?
Normally I prefer to have big chunks of time in which to get my household chores, devotions, blogging, and computer work done. The thought of being able to get all my chores done in a couple hours in the morning was heavenly, so I used to try to do that. The problems started arising because Noah's attention span is so short where mine is so long. I'd be vacuuming the entire house, inwardly fuming that Noah could not understand what I meant when I said "After I finish this, I'll play with you." The 20-30 minutes for that particular task was an eternity to him.
My dear friend suggested I operate my day based on Noah's attention span. Play with him for 10-15 minutes, then vacuum for 5. Play with him for 10 minutes, pick up clutter for 10 minutes. Once I started doing this, my life changed. Noah is not constantly asking me to play with him anymore because his needs for attention are being met, and my housework is surprisingly getting done! This particular post, for example, has been written over the course of today a bit at a time.
Another suggestion that has been very helpful came from a reader of this blog, Jenny, who suggested I let Noah help with as many of the household tasks as I can, even if he slows me down or I have to redo his work later. This has also been wonderful, as he loves spraying Windex and doing anything he can to help. I might as well take advantage of his willing spirit while I can! (I've commented to Josh that I find it ironic that kids are most willing to help when they have the least amount of ability. By the time they are physically capable of doing actual helpful work, they lose their desire!) Though it definitely slows me down to have 2-year-old help, it satisfies Noah's intense ache to be helpful, and uses up some more of that time that he would otherwise be begging me to play with him. There's only so much playing I can handle in a day! :)
So thank you, friends, for your ideas! Life around here is going much more smoothly.
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