Days 11-13

Although we had a blast visiting my family and surprising my brother for his graduation, getting the kids off of the non-schedule that I have proved to be a problem.

I was driving in the car between two different hospital as part of my "other job" last Wednesday and heard an interview on a Christian radio station that caught my attention.  I missed the first part of the interview and I didn't even know who they were interviewing, but it was like they stole Jenny's ideas and wrote a book and had it published already.  It was all about having order in your home and keeping your children to a schedule.  She said that kids love and thrive on schedules.  Children know what to expect next if they are on a schedule and not constantly in a disorderly chaos.  Hello!!  Did she read Jenny's blog before writing her book?  I had to wait until I got to a stop light and text Jenny and tell her to listen.  Of course that was the end of the interview, but we did catch the name of the book.  10 Habits of  Happy Mothers by Meg Meeker MD.  Next of my list of to do, get this book and adapt it to my challenge.

Reason for mentioning this now?  The lack of schedule for my kids on this try caused cranky kids and pissy parents.  Overall, my mom said they were good, but I have to disagree.  The travel was a piece of cake.  Between movies, coloring books, small toys, books and splitting the trip into 4 hrs one night and 6 hrs the next day, we survived!  But after that, naps were absent for Jonathan for the first two days and 1 day for Ethan.  They were overly tired and therefore got CRAZY and in trouble. Plus, it was only a couple degrees above HELL in Mississippi so they were melting outside.  All the activities were outside; fishing, slip-n-slide, etc.  They got bored in the house and whiny outside, so it was challenging.  Plus, extra relatives and activities that were not child-centered, like graduation.

So my point to saying all of this is:  I followed this challenge as best as I could during this trip.  Some nights I didn't have internet, therefore didn't read the Bible on my Kindle.  I didn't have regular quiet time, and I didn't really have to clean the kitchen, it wasn't mine to clean. 

I wasn't really on my donkey the last 3 days, just my horse was on vacation!