I have been lucky enough to experience motherhood at two completely different times in my life. I have a daughter who is in her first year of college and I have a son in kindergarten. Having kids later in life has good points and some not as pleasant.
In my younger years I worked and had so much more energy. Who needs sleep. I worked full time. I would look forward to weekends as much as the kids did so we could go hiking, fishing, to the park, swimming, whatever we could find to do that we could afford. Then start right back into the work week.
Now, I don’t have that same energy. I really need sleep. I still work and look forward to our weekends, but hope that it will include a little rest also. We still go camping, hiking, to play basketball or just work outside together but it takes a little more “mental” motivation to go do some of those things. Don’t get me wrong, I love doing these things with my family, but I could easily be convinced to just sit on the couch and stare at the TV or read a book all weekend.
Now I will say that I appreciate my time with my kids more now that I’m older. When you’re younger you think you have forever. Let me tell you that you don’t get a chance to redo things. You need to enjoy every moment you can with your family while you can. Time goes by fast so go build those legos and play go fish for the hundredth time, someday you’ll be glad you did.
When I look back at some of the things I did or let my kids do the first time round I wonder how we made it. I definitely put a little more thought into my parenting skills now, although still not perfect by any means. My youngest child is a little more spoiled than my older kids but he also gets a lot more one on one attention than my older kids probably did which is a plus for him. I would say though that if you’re going to have one kid you might as well go for two. I always think I wish he would have been twins, one pregnancy with two kids. We kept putting it off until it was a little late and I think that it would have been easier to have a playmate at times. Luckily he has friends and cousins that gets to come hang out sometimes. We live where we have no neighbors so we have to make a point of staying involved at school and some outside activities with other kids.
I feel that you are capable of being a much better parent when you’re older though and wouldn’t change anything. So many women wait until they are a little older now to have kids, it’s become a little more “normal” now. Be warned though that you may get mistaken for a grandparent on occasion and you have to be able to laugh it off and move on. I have, on more than one occasion, been out with my teenage daughter and my son and had people assume that he belonged to her instead of me, haha. She finds it hilarious. I go to events at school and a lot of the parents are the same age as my oldest son. None of this matters though because we’re happy and so much more mature to handle all of the things that come up as parents.
Side Note: If you’re worried about a big age gap like I have with my kids…..don’t. They love each other just as much and they will fight with each other like all other siblings do. You’ll forget that one of them is an “adult”, I promise.
I love fajitas! They are a quick easy meal to whip up at the end of a long day. Plus they’re a great way to get keep you on track with eating healthy. You change them up by using different proteins so you don’t get bored. Fajitas are so versatile, so feel free to change recipe to whatever you have on hand.
- 1 lb of chicken, beef or shrimp (cut chicken or beef into thin strips)
- 1 Red Pepper
- 1 Green Pepper
- 1 Onion
- 1 tsp Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1/2 tsp Pepper
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 2 Tbs Olive Oil
- Tortillas
Chop veggies into strips. Heat oil in frying pan. Add veggies and cook on medium heat until partially tender. Add meat and spices and continue cooking until meat is cooked through and veggies are tender. Serve on heated tortillas. If your really watching your diet skip the tortillas, it’s just as delicious on its own. Feel free to add to them with salsa, sour cream or cilantro. Enjoy.
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Well you have to be one of two types of people. You’re either that person who is completely organized, recycles their mail as it comes in, files everything else right away and knows right where everything is when needed……or you’re not. I’m not, unfortunately, but have decided that I am going to tackle my stacks and become that person, I hope.
I tend to bring the mail in, put it in the mail pile. A week or two later I go through it and separate in to the next piles of now and later. My later pile then moves elsewhere and I forget it. Eventually I either go through it or I throw it in the box that I’m planning to go through. Terrible, I know. Not sure why I don’t just do it and get it over with. Well today I decided to deal with it. I have tackled the pile and the box!
Now, my box of papers is not just mail. The box includes all of the art projects, worksheets, school newsletters and magazines that come home daily. So this is my plan:
- Bring the mail in and go through it right away.
- Mail dispersed immediately to where it belongs, husband, office, etc…
- Deal with what’s left for myself immediately. Pay, file, recycle.
- Kids work will go into a box which I will go through at end of school year.
- I will then sort this into work and projects that I want to keep. This work will go into a box that I plan to keep.
- Everything else goes! You cant keep every worksheet they bring home!
- I will then start a box for the next school year and repeat this process.
- By the time they graduate there will be only one box of saved things for them to have.
I realize this sounds like a minor problem that should not be an issue, but I can’t be the only person that can’t seem to get with it. There is so much junk mail, so many worksheets, so much stuff I just don’t need! Join me in decluttering your life one pile at a time. Good luck!