The hours of a mother's day

Time flies when you’re having fun!  Gee, I didn’t realize I had not written an article in ages! Sorry, folks! Yes, I have been having too much fun. My daily prayer is for the Lord to add hours to my day. I have to admit it has been extremely a challenge to make all my tasks fit in one day. I am on call every three and a half hours to breastfeed my baby Solana. That takes up about 30 minutes for each feeding session.  Aside from that, it is quite a challenge to let her out of my sight as her enticing eyes and sweet demeanor hypnotize me to stay by her side and forget all of life’s many cares! She is just too cute to resist!

Ah, if only all my children could remain babies! They’d be so easy to manage! One baby in the family though makes a huge difference in each of our temperaments.  We are kinder, more patient, and yes, more loving. We keep reminding ourselves there is hope and Solana helps us remember that.  We regularly remind each other we will be better and will handle our issues better and that there’s a chance to start anew because there’s a baby who is watching all of us. Our issues continue though, as we live with each of our imperfections. We are also all entering a different stage in our lives as a family and as individuals. I am currently faced with having to deal with two teenagers, two tweeners, a baby, and a husband who is having his own adventures as he matures into his late 40s. Well as for me, thank God I have mellowed in a way. I guess I have learned that we can’t fight every battle that comes our way so I have learned to choose my battles here at the home front and yes, I have chosen them quite well these days because I’ve armed myself with the right kind of help. 

I realized that in order to survive the busyness of life, I have to be more mindful of my time. It helps to have a husband who teaches about principles in time management. There are several things that help me keep my sanity especially during hectic days. Every morning, I try to make it a point to have some quiet time with the Lord. This really helps quiet my soul and adds perspective to my day.  I make sure we have breakfast as a family so that we are able to coordinate our day and then I’m able to make sure each one has all that’s needed for school and work. I have made it a habit to send them off with a prayer — something I have learned from my mother-in-law, Mommy Emma. Like her, I stand by the door until the car or the school service leaves my sight. I used to take my children to school and pick them up every day but having just moved to our temporary home, I have had to entrust them to a school service. Anyway, school’s just six minutes away and this adds precious “me” time. 

Throughout the day, I follow a flexible feeding schedule for the baby. It’s a system I learned from the book On Becoming Babywise by Garry and Anne Marie Ezzo.  Because of it, I have been able to have a life.  Yes, a life! The book guarantees to make your baby sleep through the night by eight weeks. Yes, we haven’t had sleepless nights even when we were having babies one after the other. Now that we have a new baby after 10 years, the system still works! She’s an angel and I know it’s because of putting her on a parent-directed schedule.   

I try to do all my paperwork while the children are in school.  I make sure they have merienda when they get home and I try my best to make sure I sit with my kids to talk about how our day went. It’s an amazing habit that I hope never to break. We are able to exchange fresh thoughts about our day and are able to thresh out issues that are very recent in each of our hearts. Having refrained from asking basic “how are you” questions and having moved to asking specific questions about particular topics have paved the way for rich conversations and yes, long hours of eating with my children.  Thank God, we can’t really escape from our triathlon training as the village pool is just a few steps away and we’re surrounded by our coaches that we are able to burn the calories we gorge on daily for merienda. 

The evenings are devoted to homework for the children, dinner, and more conversations before bed. We try as much to pray together before each one dozes off to dreamland.

It’s funny, though we may seem far from civilization, we’ve not really missed much of the city. We’ve had more strategic travels to the city and have had a much organized schedule while there. We may be far, but we’re definitely within better reach with the help of the highway. I can actually calculate each person’s arrival. The part I love the most is that when people are home, they stay home. It’s just hard to imagine having to commute to the city when one has settled in the boondocks. Yes, I get to see friends and my dates with my husband may be less frequent, but they are longer. We still hold dear our regular dates as a couple because we know that makes us solid and one.

Our days swiftly go by that is why I want more valuable hours in my day. So help me, God!

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