Adjustments

The kids are loving camp.

I am really struggling with work.

The kids come home exhausted.  They don't seem sleepy- but they quickly dissolve into bad choices and meltdowns which is the big indicator of being tired.

Monday, we had a plan.  Get the kids home, get them cleaned up, feed them and talk about the day, bedtime.  It went well.

Tuesday, we fell into old habits of a hectic end of day.  I was wiped out from work stress.  We opted to get the kids and head out to dinner, then home for baths and bedtime.

Going out to dinner is one thing too much.  We faced a crazy meltdown from Teagan and she was in bed well before 7.

Jeff and I came up with a new routine for our evenings.  We are only on day 3 of this summer camp thing but what we are seeing consistently is that our kids are loving it, have fantastic things to tell us about their day, and they are exhausted early in the evening.

Maybe our new routine will only last for a couple of weeks while we adjust.  Maybe this will be how things go for the entire summer.  But we will do what is needed to keep things as peaceful for our family as possible.

Jeff will pick up the kids as early as he can.  Get them home and get one kid in the tub while giving the other kid a snack.  Then swap.  Start dinner of some sort if he can.  I get home around 5:30 and step right in to help with the bathing, pajama-ing and feeding.  All eating, grooming, and so on has to be done by 6:30.  That's when we head to the bedroom and read books together or color.  At 6:50, it's last potty call, make sure we have our water bottles and stuffed animals, get all our hugs and kisses done.  Tucked in and lights out no later than 7.  Bad attitude?  That will get you sent to bed, directly to bed.

This means sacrifice for the grown ups.  I had been excited to get back to Wednesday evenings at church and leading a small group and having fellowship with my church family.  But my kids and my husband come before that.  Jeff has connected with a small group that meets on Weds eves at church and it is far more important for him to have that time than for me to have my church time.  There will be nights when he has something to do and there will be nights that I have something to do but our main focus is keeping our tired and busy and happy kids in a peaceful routine each evening so they can be their best the next day.

What I wish was that there was someone with actual influence at my job who had that same desire for me.