Do you have a witching hour at your house? A time when everything seems to disintegrate and you just want to pull out your hair and scream? For me, that hour is between 5 and 6 pm almost every day. Usually any combination of the following things are happening during this time:
I am making dinner or finishing dinner prep for at least two, sometimes three different diets.
Emilia wants to push her cart in endless circles around the kitchen island.
Rex wants to go upstairs and wreak havoc on anything that’s not nailed down. Here’s what he managed to do today during witching hour:
Telemarketer/ pseudo non-profit telemarketer or appointment reminder calls. Today it was Mr. Chimney wanting to clean my non-existent chimney.
Emilia wants to hang on to my pants’ legs and be dragged around.
Both children are hungry and want to be fed at the same time.
The house is a mess.
Daddy comes home and causes great excitement among the kids.
At least one child poops.
Both kids try to climb into the fridge or freezer every time I open their doors.
Emilia is carrying one can after another out of the pantry if it is left open.
Rex tries to reach for anything in sight on the countertops and wants to place toys onto the (hot) stove.
Rex’s therapist is finishing up and wants to discuss her session.
I am sure there’s more and if I had time to take notes or type during witching hour, I could record the chaos more properly. Alas, I don’t. It’s all I can do to try and get through it.
Sigh... I do know what you mean about frazzled... for me just after Elina came home it was bedtime routine and gettig her to go to bed and stay in bed. I would get so frazzled and mentally drained... we would start at 7pm and it would go on until 10 or 11 pm. Terrorized tantrums, meltdowns... ugh... those were the worst 4-6 months of night time routines EVER.
ReplyDeleteHere are a few recommendations that I have as a one paretn family that has to do EVERYTHING... so this means HUGE time management struggles on a daily basis:
First Crock pots are AWESOME!
Sundays are great family days and cooking days... prep as much as you can... cut/dice/puree... this goes for mashed potatos, noodles and other things that keep in the frisdge during the week... I generally make at least one type of soup per week (cheap healthy and easy)...
For me reading all of this... maybe get a phone message machine... this way if it is hubby you can hear who it is calling and don't have to pick up... this way it doesn't go to voicemail.
Maybe sit the kiddos in highchairs with a small snack and give them a toy that is only for playing during that time... making them look forward to it??? This way they are in the room, up at your level and away from your feet... nothing worse that tripping over them!
Yes it is always Dinner time/preperation (even with my biological kids it was this way when they were young). I put Calvin infront of an Elmo Dvd during this time and the girls work on homework :) I like Yvonnes' idea with the highchair and giving them something to do to keep them safe and give you room and time to make dinner. Hang in there, it won't last forever.
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