how do you fit everything in?

For as long as I can remember people have asked me how I get so much done. Whether it was *way back* when Father Bear and I were working 7am-noon, studying fulltime (lectures were in the afternoons and evenings) and tutoring refugees and running Children's Church....or more recently when people have seen through my blogs a bit more of my day-to-day life....the questions have not stopped. Maybe one of my problems is that I have so many things I want to do, crafts I want to try, places I want to visit, books I want to read, children I want to cuddle, things I want to think about......there's always something on the go.

So for those of you who have asked.....here's a *typical* day for me.

If I want to exercise or have some quiet time to myself, it needs to be over and done with by 7am when the troops file out of their bedrooms eager to start their own days.
We all start with breakfast and then before we get down from the table, we revise memory verses and sing songs together - and during this time I sneak in the first knitting or embroidery.
Then I supervise chores, checking up what's been done and lending a hand.
As jobs are almost being finished I get a snuggle with ER as I change her nappy, blow raspberries on her tummy and pop her into bed.
While she sleeps for a couple of hours I read aloud to everyone else. Usually someone is on my knee or slouched over my shoulders or braiding my hair - I do love this part of the day!
We all head down to the dining room and I play games with the little ones and supervise the writing of the bigger ones. While the biggest (who work independently) continue with their own work, I help the preschoolers set the table and the slightly bigger ones make lunch......this invariably means sitting in a chair and giving verbal directions (which means I can again pick up some knitting for quarter of an hour).
After lunch the big ones clear up and throw together dinner while I read picture books to the little ones (at the moment this is baby-6year old). Then it's naptime! And that means EVERYONE has to do something quiet for an hour or so. The big kids and I race upstairs to the computer and spend half an hour updating blogs before some silent reading (and on my part) sewing or scrapbooking or sorting out dinner if it wasn't done earlier. The afternoons are pretty laid back - when the little kids wake up everyone is more or less free to do whatever they like, but I will of course keep an eye on them. I usually manage to get some more *stuff* done - I'm always aware I could choose to wash windows or iron shirts, but I rarely do at this point!!!!
Late afternoon we all tidy up (although I am renowned for not tidying up whatever project I'm working on....it stays out for a week or more till I move on to something else), I supervise afternoon chores, baths and final dinner preparations.
After dinner I get little kids off to bed....then middle kids....hopefully all accomplished by 7:30ish. Then there are another three hours for me to potter. I don't watch television. I try to use this time doing things that need concentration and leave the more mindless parts of work to when I need my attention divided in the daylight hours. If I'm tired this is tricky and I'll just end up knitting or reading. We often have people over or go out with others - after reading about women throughout history getting together with their workbaskets, I decided it is a relatively new idea that you should sit together doing nothing but sip coffee and chitchat, so I now don't hesitate to pick up some embroidery or simple knitting (and having my hands busy helps me not eat the yummy chocolate cake that might be on offer for supper!)

Of course, not every day is like this. Some days we head out to the garden first thing and put in full morning's work...other days we go out...occasionally my arm is twisted to read "one more chapter" and "just one more chapter" and then "one really last chapter this time Mama"....or last Friday we got the wooden train set out and everyone spent hours putting it together while I read a book to myself - I was tired; tired of being a mother, tired of doing the same things every day, tired of the normalcy of life, tired of not seeing Father Bear (on average we're only managing two nights a week home together at the moment and then we're so had it we're not connecting), tired of cooking, tired from staying up late, tired of ideas racing round my head, tired of not accomplishing anything tangible....just plain tired. So I rejuvenated myself by letting the kids do something that almost always results in them playing nicely together while I snuggled up on my favourite chair beside them all. It worked. And now I'm way off on a tangent, but I'll leave it in here, coz It's The Way It Is.