A Rarity

This is one of the ever more elusive posts that is NOT exclusively about the kids. Whoa. I remember when most of my posts were about the weekend or sharing my views on something or maybe just a couple of random pictures. Simply put, I just don't have time for that anymore. In fact, I have significantly less "me" time than I ever had. I kind of knew that was going to be coming along with the parental territory, but I just didn't think it would be quite so extreme. I don't constantly dwell on it, but there are definitely many days where it is really hard to not have a break. And only having 3 uninterrupted nights of sleep in the last five months doesn't make things any easier. :/

Anywho, I wanted to get some thoughts down here while I actually do have a spare few minutes.

• I'm working again. Very very part time which actually makes it the ideal arrangement. I'm doing some freelance search marketing working with two different folks. The first was my old client contact when I worked at the agency in Chicago. She recently started her own search marketing consulting company and is also a stay at home working mom. She noticed on one of the social media sites for business professionals that I was a freelancer. She got in touch with me, told me what she was looking for and I happily signed on! I'll be working for her max 30 hours a month and can completely set my own hours. It is totally perfect. The second gig I picked up is working on a website of a former colleague. I am going to basically re-vamp their entire search account and run it for awhile. Hopefully I'll be able to make him some good money! It's another "in your spare time" kind of thing and I'll be devoting about 6-8 hours a month to working on that. This was my first month in the new arrangements, and it seems to have worked out pretty well so far! It's been more fun than I thought getting back into managing and building accounts. As long as I can keep a proper balance of work and family time, it'll be all good.
• We're working on a few new initiatives around here. The first is spending less time on the computers/iPhones and making sure we are be as present as we can with the kids. This time with them is going to go by so fast that I want to be in the moment as much as possible. I also don't want them thinking they come second to some electronic device. I know I've let myself become more and more sucked in to constantly checking email, social media sites, blogs, etc. I have drastically cut down my screen time around the kids during the day, and B and I have committed to absolutely zero screen time from when he gets home from work to until the kids are in bed. One thing I've done to help make the change is shut of the audio for incoming emails on the computer/iPhone/iPad. That alone has made a HUGE difference! If I don't hear it, I don't think about it, and if I don't think about it, I don't feel compelled to check. Breaking these habits has been hard, but any adjustments to routine are difficult. I have only been at it for a few days now, but already I feel better about making this change, and I hope to see positive results.
• B and I have committed to not text and drive. It can be so easy and tempting to sneak a peek at a message or "quickly" type back a response. Of course, we all think we're excellent drivers and wouldn't possibly cause an accident. But these inflated views of ourselves and abilities are a huge part of the problem. More importantly, we want to set a good example for the kids. It just doesn't make sense to live by the mantra: "do as I say, not as I do."
• The last one is something I've been more personally focusing on. I call it "PSA" or "Put S#!t Away." I am so sick of constantly running out of counter or table space or having to step around piles of toys or other things. We live in a much bigger place now and SHOULD NOT be having this problem as much as we do. So now, I've been telling myself throughout the day to just put the crap away when I come across it. I like the impact it's had so far. I really hope to keep it up.

That's about all I have time for right now! Time to go remind Caiden it is nap time, not play time.