While it may not be officially summer yet, I'm already calling it summer time since we have Matt's cousin staying the summer with us and she's already on break.
To say that I'm excited to have her staying with us in an understatement. This is such a blessing for me to have another adult in the house with me and that doesn't even include the extra help with housework. For the first time in a long while, I'm feeling relaxed. To have this extra help is so incredibly nice (plus, she's basically my little sister)!
I'm already worried about what I'm going to do when the fall semester starts up and I lose my company and help. It's honestly making me realize that I need help. I was managing on my own but I see now that I was only surviving, not thriving.
To be clear, Matt is a wonderful help when he's home! He's an amazing dad, husband and helpmate. The days however are long and lonely when I'm the only adult around.
I think we're going to end up talking about hiring a housekeeper to help with the house once a week and possibly a nanny/babysitter to give me a break once a week. It's just a lot on my plate with household chores, cooking, therapists coming to the house almost every day (and that number will be going up in the next month or so) and parenting. I want to thrive and enjoy life. To truly cherish my children. I realize that you can love your family, but to truly cherish them and thrive, you need to take care of yourself and give yourself breaks.
That means not doing the typical mom thing of running non-stop every single day. Do you ever feel like just not doing any cleaning for a day but then have a feeling of dread because you know that if you chose a lazy day, the house will suffer (and fast) and you'll have an even bigger mess to clean up when you get around to it? I'm not talking about trying to keep a perfect house even; simply a house that is livable and doesn't give you claustrophobia as you look around.
I'm naturally a slob (my family can and will attest to what it was like to grow up with me!). I have worked on that so much since getting married because I want to be a blessing to my husband and I want us to both be comfortable in our house. I've had to let go of a lot of my cleaning expectations since becoming a mom because honestly, you turn your back on a child for one minute and your once clean living room is so covered in toys that you can't even see the floor.
I've found that as long as I try to keep surfaces picked up (mostly), I can handle how the house looks because then it looks less cluttered.
Which brings us back to wanting a housekeeper and nanny for at least one day a week once our cousin is back in school.
Also, with all of this talk on summer time, I'm considering summer activities! While I can do anything at any time with boys, the world seems more open when you know the schools are out too. Do we try for a family vacation? Possibly! We're talking about doing a test camping trip close by to see how the boys do before trying to tackle the Sierra's with them. Our version of camping is tent camping by the way. I don't count campers, cabins or lodges. All of those other options mean you're staying in the wilderness but it's not camping unless you're in a tent or under the stars (yes, I'm aware that I'm a snob). But I think we'll be taking around a week to see how it goes with toddlers!
I'm also looking forward to trying to get to Georgia this fall to see my sister, her family and the rest of our family! Who know if we'll be driving like usual or if I'll try to fly with the boys. Flying has been out of the question until they recently lifted the mask mandate. I just don't agree with enforcing my toddler to wear a mask and didn't want to be blacklisted from flying due to my toddler absolutely refusing to wear one. Luckily that isn't an issue now.
So we'll see what this summer has in store for us as we make tentative plans and enjoy the weather!