Busy days with kids!

Good morning everyone!

Today I'm sitting here at my dining room table, breakfast and tea in front of me, blogging at 8:50!! That is a first!!! There is reason for this though... My mom is working with a friend today, so I'm babysitting today. I have a crazy day today! Babysitting, gym day, going to the mall with friends, then babysitting other kids! It's a lot to wrap my mind around. But I'm feeling less stressed about it all than I was yesterday. Today I'm going to share some thoughts and tips about feeling less stressed on busy days; especially days being in charge of little kids!

When you wake up, pray! Pray for the day, for patience, (kids are really frustrating!) pray for peace when things go wrong in the day. I know that's one thing I struggle with. When one kid stops listening, it throws everything off! I tend to get really stressed out, then over react. And that's not ok!

Figure out exactly what is happening or needs to be done. Write out a list of the most important things, and there times if applicable. For example, I wrote a list and had all the start times of everything I'm doing today.

If you aren't motivated to get up in the morning, think of something you enjoy doing to do first thing when you get up. For me today, it was blogging while eating breakfast. I decided that I would get up, get dressed, and make breakfast, then I could sit down with my laptop and blog for awhile. Right now my siblings are watching kids shows on TV, so I am free to just blog and enjoy myself.

Coming to mind as I tell my little brother to sit down on the couch, if you tell a child to do something, make sure they do it. I told my brother to sit down and stop touching the TV, and I waited until he did. If kids think they can get away with anything, they will. Be firm, but gentle.

Try and get the most important tasks done first! Today, I have decided I'm not going to expect to get any schoolwork done, because it's just not going to happen. Instead, I will make sure I spend quality time with my siblings, and get any housework done that needs to be done immediately.

Realize that with kids, not everything is going to get done, and that is fine! Sure, it's not ok to just sit around being lazy, but understand that if you're a student, it's impossible to get all your work plus babysitting plus whatever else done.

And last but not least, just have fun! These crazy days of babysitting siblings will pass by quickly. Soon it will be you with your own kids. Just relax and enjoy these times, and don't worry if not everything goes according to plan. Take things as they come, and just go with the flow! (Even if that flow is the flow to losing your mind even faster.)