Where do you find the time to.....?

Haha, this is always an interesting question... and I generally don't answer it in public because what I have to say isn't popular, so here in my "it's okay to not be PC" forum, I will divulge the answer....

I'll start with two instances that this question has come up in the last few weeks, one was pitched to me, the other to my husband.

On Hobbies/Interests

Me: I was at a quilting store with my 3 young kids and pregnant belly looking at fabric and talking with an older woman about possible Christmas stocking ideas that I had in mind for this next year, discussing a full-size rag quilt that's in progress for my daughter, a train blanket that I'm hand quilting for my son (which is quite enjoyable since machines and I don't get along that great!), and a crocheted blanket for my other son. She couldn't figure out where I found the time to do ANY projects, and repeatedly told me so as she stared at my children.

Hubby: While at work he and another Officer were discussing the video games they played, new ones coming out, etc. Dumbfounded, a Sergeant in the office who knows how busy these guys are with work and how at home we have 3 kids and 1 on the way and the other guy has 1 or 2 and a newborn, just couldn't figure out where they found the time to sit down to do such a thing! He only had 1 kid and he didn't have ANY time to do what he wanted to do when he got home.

The Answer: Our kids are in bed between 6:30 & 7, and yes, they do stay in their rooms asleep for at least 12 hours... and then they stay in there and play for a while on top of that. As a result, mom and dad have 2-3 free hours of together time, or to use for personal hobbies (like quilting and playing video games) :-). As my hubby explained this to the Sergeant the other Officer was nodding his head in concurrence the whole time. Mystery solved! It's amazing what you can get done when you play mom/dad and set some ground rules for how your house is going to run. If we had our kids up into late hours with us I can promise you that we wouldn't have as many kids as we do, our relationship would suffer for it, and our kids would probably be fairly cranky because they weren't getting the sleep they needed. Oh, I also work on projects and other hobbies (like reading) during the day as an example to my children.... that helps them grow and encourages my abilities.

On House Cleaning:

Where do I find the time to keep everything so nice and neat?

Answer: Bit by bit! I try to manage clutter spots in stints here and there, and when my husband is gone at night after the kiddies go to bed, I tend to start big cleaning projects... mostly because I'm OCD, but that's besides the point! The real trick is that the house only takes about 5-10 minutes to tidy up. Like I confessed yesterday, we keep toys and other kid accessories out of the living areas, save books. As a result, if there are toys that have wandered, the kids know to pick them up and put them away, they'll place books in the bookshelf and we'll run the little Shark Vac through the house. *TA DA* One clean house. We'll do extra little things throughout the week like dusting and cleaning windows/glass.... but my kids enjoy it and I just like how it makes the house smell. Anyway! With only little things that need to be done, the house always appears to be clean!

On Making Bread:

You make bread like 3-4 times a week, how do you do it??

Answer: The time for this one comes when you realize that it doesn't actually take as much time to do as you think it will! Lots of people have Kitchenaid's or other appliances with a dough hook, that's a quick way to through together some dough... I'd say within 5-10 minutes you have dough ready to rise. I stick mine on top of a preheated stove, cover with a towel, and set a timer for me to come back and punch it down. Even putting together dough by hand doesn't add much more time. To each his own, but we like to make things ourselves, and the time that you're actually spending working with the dough is VERY little.

On Working Out:

You guys are so health conscious. I just don't have the time! Working out with kids is so hard, so I just don't... how do you guys do it??

Answer: Nathan doesn't count on this one since working out is a priority for his job, but he does do extra things, and those he accomplishes because he has an awesome wife :-). Mom's trick, JUST DO IT. I've very often had kids in my room while I work out to a video or the Wii, we'll go out with the youngest kiddies in a double jogging stroller and the oldest riding his bike. As I train for my triathlon this spring/summer I'll be dragging them all with me to a little kiddy play area in one of the family fitness rooms on base, and often I'll get up early or stay up late to enjoy beating myself up whilst quiet fills the air :-). I make the time and when that, as it often does, involves my kids being awake, they have a good example of what's important to me and usually join along too!

On Reading:

I can't believe how much you guys read. I can barely open something that I want to read because the kids are always bouncing around. How do you find the time??

Answer: I pretty much touched on this one. I LOVE reading, and most of the stuff I get into requires a little bit of concentration/analyzation. My solution is the time after kids go to bed or during quiet time in the day works well :-). I'll often just read out loud to the kids too and that provides me another avenue of dissecting the book since I'm trying to explain it to little people.

On Laundry:

I don't see huge piles of laundry stacked up, how do you manage it all??

Answer: I keep it going throughout the day and throw the piles on my bed. Those piles get folded during quiet time (while I'm catching up on a favorite show or 3), or later in the evening when I'm getting a rundown of my hubby's day. I at least try to get one load done everyday so it doesn't pile up.

On Cloth Diapering:

How do you handle doing cloth diapers with your kids. Doesn't it take a lot longer??

Answer: It really doesn't take any longer than diapering with disposables. We use pocket diapers or flat diapers with a cover. Either way we have these little disintegrating liners that we toss in the toilet, spray some odor stuff on the diaper, throw it in a bag, and every other day I wash a load.... which is super simple considering that my washer is doing all the work. The only difference between what we do and what other families do?? We save more money :-).

On Homeschooling:

Homeschooling would just be too hard for me, I'm not patient enough, I just don't have the time!!

Answer: I've heard a plethora of reasons why other people "can't do what we do," and I've given you plenty of reasons why we do what we do in earlier posts. Here I just simply want to say that I find the time to homeschool because learning is all around us, we don't have car commute times or places we have to be/things to do.... and if you look at your schedule and the time you spend driving, working on homework, getting things ready for school, etc., you'll find that you're spending a lot of time just getting prepared to have your kids in school all day that we don't have to worry about. There's LOTS of extra hours in the day when the kids are home!

I think that's all for now. I'm planning to take the kids out for the day, so I'm mentally preparing myself for my cheesy smile in response to all of the "you sure have your hands full" comments that are inevitably doing be heard about a million times before we return home. That just not a question I entertain to the passerby! Just like I don't tell them that I have WAY more time then they do during the day.... wouldn't want them to get jealous!

The Quirks Continue On....

So long as you already think I'm certifiably insane, I thought I'd add something else to the list! *laugh*

As I was running my wonderfully delicious Kirby vacuum that I've had for almost 8 years and I wouldn't doubt could suck up a small child or animal, also known as "the big vacuum" by my kids.... (the kiddlly-dinks use the Shark or "little vacuum" to do floors everyday and then I use mine when I see fit)... I came to a realization that I'm a bit odd. Shocking, again, I know!!

Okay, I do have more cleaning to do, so I'll "come clean" about this quirk and leave it be.... I have a few rooms that I refuse to have look like children live in the house. Impossible?? Nope, not when you're as crazy as me and have a husband following on the crazy train. The rooms in question:

-Living Room

-Kitchen

-Master Bedroom

-Bathrooms

If you're not careful, little people tend to stealthily creep through the house leaving little toys EVERYWHERE. It's quite the phenomenon, and I'm sure you've experienced it. Do to our recent move these little people have had the opportunity to wreak such havoc on my house, which is made all the more lovely when people come to your door! Well, now that things are a little more in order and mommy is wearing here special googles, I can see the little critters and they've been cut off from their littering!!

It's vain, but I like to have a comfortable home that people feel like they can just walk into and relax. One comment I personally hate to hear, but nonetheless mean when I say to other people, in response to home order "you have little kids, don't worry, things look great considering...."

So, how does this crazy person make it look like she doesn't have a 4 1/2, 3, and 19 month old?? The kids earn their keep!

-They're responsible for NO TOYS IN THE KITCHEN. Seriously, no one needs to be tripping over toys in a place where you're transporting hot things, and they can very well play somewhere else (no, that doesn't apply to babies). I can't handle clutter, and toys spilling out of bedrooms is not an option.

-They take all the toys/trash out of the living room. The only tip off in the living room that kids live here, besides the fact that they're in our family photo's, is that the lower levels of our bookshelves contain kids books and those books aren't always standing upright.... which I can handle... until I can't... at which time I organize them again.

-No toys cross the threshold of mom and dad's room period. That's our space, if the kids are in there watching a movie with us, or we've brought them in because they're sick, or we're being selfish and want to cuddle, they should pretty much feel privileged. I think having one room to call your own when the rest of the house is open, is more than fair.

-Their bathroom has a few toys in the tub, but is decorated to receive guests and so we never have to change decor as they grow.... I know "boring," but seriously, do they really care about all the kid prints? Who knows! Anyway, it's kept clean and they're in and out and shut the door so we don't get random things in their courtesy of the youngest gremlin. I hate a yucky bathroom, I can actually visualize the germs! Never helps when it's smelly too. I do everything I can to stay away from restrooms outside the house, and that includes other peoples houses. You know what I'm talking about! While I don't use the kids bathroom at our house, I do make sure that it's kept securely under my thumb because that'll be the one other people use... constant upkeep means no drastic cleaning when someone does happen to stop by.

Currently the kiddly-dinks are making beds and cleaning their rooms. This chore ends up number 2 on the morning "to-do" list," just below 'get dressed, brush teeth, and do hair.' I'll tell yah, it's not always easy to get kids to pick up toys... our daughter regularly likes to scream at the top of her lungs how she can't put them away, and our oldest boy is in this "sulking phase" (that he may not survive), where his response is "it's going to take FOREVER." Well, I'm a helpful person. Anything left on the floor goes in a box. I like a clean house, this is true, but if I'm putting away things for capable children, it belongs to me :-). Currently sitting in my garage are 3-4 boxes of toys (that I've collected at different times), and I gotta tell yah, it's a BEAUTIFUL thing!! It makes toy putting away more manageable, reminds me why I don't want to buy them anymore toys, and will make for great birthday and Christmas presents! I also have motivated children when their task is taking too long and end up setting a timer until Mom comes through to clean for them. :-)

Now, before you hate me too much, hear me out here. Kids learn better when they're younger, they're less "set in their ways" and easier to mold. Sticking in and teaching them good behaviors now and responsibility for their things is going to be way easier now then waiting until they're teens and can't understand why you aren't just doing things for them, or why leaving things wherever they want like before and reclaiming it later doesn't work. My kids have their own spaces and make a good "kid" mess on a daily bases. That's fine with me! Cleaning up after is part of the fun! However, I notice they respect things a lot more. They don't just go around breaking their toys... which is what other kids that come over and do to our things, but that's another story and not one I revisit often since "play dates" are so low on my list of this to do it's basically nonexistent.

I also think you shouldn't hate me because I genuinely do try to support other mom's by saying "you've got a lot going on right now etc." Like I said after every move is when chaos enters the Jorgensen home, (it's just that I want to pull my hair out when people say that to me). lol. Also, I don't think you can deny that a clean floor is a HUGE deal. I like seeing my floor, it's pretty, and I like knowing that when my kids go running around they aren't trudging through a bunch of junk, dirt, papers that should be in the trash etc. Especially if you have an infant... clean floors are important to their health and safety!

Okay, so, now you know my quirk... making a home of kids look like kids don't live here. *laugh* They are happy and adjusted, but I think that's a lot because they have boundaries... they don't get to just run amuck. We can all enjoy sitting in the living room and comfortably read and "read" books, I get to come home from being out and just relax without having to run a laundry list of things to do through my head, and without clutter/toys in every room messes are few and we can just have fun!

To each his own, but I'm a better mom and wife for not having to be the sole cleaner and taking care of everyone else's junk. We also love that we can have people in at a moment's notice and they can feel at home and not overwhelmed by junk too.... it happens quite frequently here! Our family has grown exponentially in the last month and I'm glad we can offer hospitality to those that frequent us while living life as usual! :-)

Dr. Gerson

I don't really have time to sit and write what I want, but I wanted to at least put down my latest thoughts. I've recently watch "The Beautiful Truth." Oh my! What an eye opener! I'm down right confounded at the moment and am very excited to find out more. The movie is a documentary that follows a homeschooled kid who started researching and traveling to meet people that had cancer and other horrible diseases and how they were cured by food. The treatment put in place by Dr. Gerson, and his daughter and grandson who continue to promote the method, was shut down by so many.. (*cough* drug companies etc.). I've thought for about 10 years or so that there was so much more to food and health, and have tried to act those thoughts and the research that inspires me to do more. However, like my blog title suggests, I'm learning every day!

Anyway, if you have Netflix, take a minute and watch "The Beautiful Truth" on instant play. I believe more in natural cures now then I ever thought possible. I'm all about prevention of disease and the role diet and environment plays there, but when that fails (as can happen in our highly chemical, processed world), there is rather compelling arguments pointing to natural/whole foods! Shocker huh?

I'm excited to get my hands on some Gerson books!

Ear Piercing...

Ear piercing is one of those things that I had done when I was 7 or 8 (because my mom asked me at the mall one day and I said sure, despite the fact that my sisters had to wait until their teens I believe.) I then went on and had 3 more sets done over time, and still like multiple earrings, but only wear my bottom set because LDS people have been asked to wear one modest pair. So I do.

Moving on, there's a lot of opinions available on piercing and ages to do it at... believe me, I read nearly all of them yesterday in addition to watching youtube clips of it being done with an instrument I was considering buying. Some people think it's best to do it young, others think it best to wait... I was on the wait side (probably because of my family experience of having to wait), until a couple weeks ago.

Nyah and I had gone out for the day together. We redeemed gift cards at Hastings (if it isn't obvious, I love books, so that was the best part of the day for me!), we got Nyah new church shoes, walked the mall, had lunch, etc. Well, while we were at the mall I walked by Claire's and though, 'hey! I should take Nyah to get her ears pierced,' then my conscience kicked in and said, "what did you just say?" Yah, I shook my head and kept walking because I really was going to walk my 3 year old in to get it done.

Now, why was this a crazy thought? I think it's more that I hadn't considered it before in relation to her, and probably thought somewhere in my mind that she should be older, ask for it, etc. Why do it so young?

Anyway! I've been debating this issue for about 4 weeks now and finally decided to just do it! Nathan had given his go ahead, so I was going to do it... maybe! Still I dragged my feet considering all the pros and cons (which I'm sure people in most other countries would laugh at, what's the problem, right??) I think I really thought of it in the first place because she would look more feminine. She cut the very front of her hair on Christmas Eve (it looked shaved), and the only way we could figure to turn it into something good would be giving her a pixie cut. Nathan did great on the haircut, but there went 3 years of hair growth, and girls having long hair is important in my family! So, as I get ready to go anywhere with my daughter (who even with hair could pass as her brother's twin), and spike her hair, I thought that at least earrings would help her look like a little girl! So, there's my own security issues coming out as I wonder what people think of this grown up hair-do... not that the earrings would make her look younger, but at least she'd look more like a girl (with punk rocker roots :-) ). Oh well, anyhow, I think the hair is where this started.

So, I resolved to just let Nyah ask to get her ears pierced since it's not fair for me to inflict pain on her just for looks. Well, Sunday she started playing with my earrings and wanted "toys" (I had some dangling little stone things on that she was batting around) like mommy. So, we asked if she wanted it done, she said yes, I said maybe.

The final decision was made yesterday, I wanted to have it done, I looked to a friend for advice, she helped steady my spine on the matter and offered to do it herself. Some of the concerns I had researched were sanitation, the shop guns... usually run by young people.... being to forceful for little kids and causing scarring etc. So, I watched some videos of a cheap (price wise), push 'gun' and was happy with the control it allowed rather then just snapping quickly.... my friend took care of the sanitation worry since it was at my house with a gun I just bought that'd never been used before, and earrings that I picked up still sealed in the box.

I did have Nyah watch a few videos and explained to her what would happen, that it would hurt, etc. She didn't want the hurt, but she was all for the earrings! I just didn't want her to feel like I was pulling the wool over her eyes, it was her choice and I wanted her to be as well informed as a 3 year old could comprehend. Anyway, this afternoon held a few tears but ultimately turned out well and I'm glad it's over!

What I find most interesting is how big of a 'dilemma' this has been for me! I'm a researcher, so I've read and read so many things that are out there about this subject. It seems like the real verdict is that American's generally have problems with this issue. I'm sure it stems somewhere from not wanting your little girl to look older etc., which is understandable... (except parents nowadays then let them do other things that don't exactly encourage childhood... but that's besides the point!). Maybe we worry too much about what others will think. I know I always found it odd that parents would pierce babies ears, that just seemed odd (until Nathan reminded me that we circumcise our boys... which is a torturous decision for me every time too, if it's any consolation to whoever is reading this.) I can see the wisdom in piercing babies ears now though. Necessity, maybe not so much, but I understand better now seeing as how I'm in the position of wondering if my daughter will try and take them out!

Is it really a big deal? Do American's place a sort of "rite of passage" on piercing. Do we just want our kids to make the decisions? Are we really just worried about what others think that much?

I don't know! Thankfully for us we've already run with the decision with our only daughter and no longer have to consider if or when!! (Oh, and her being the only girl in our family may have influenced my decision as well.... she loves to play with the boys, but has her own feminine side and I have this unyielding desire to make sure that part of her gets nurtured even though I personally don't like princess stuff ). :-)