Making changes

I'm thinking of making some changes.

First, it's time cut the hair again! I have at least a whole inch of grow-out, and when I run my fingers through the length of my hair, I can feel it thinning towards the bottom, from all the pony-tails my hair has been forced into. I'm thinking of going short again... :)

The next changes I'm contemplating might seem a little "duh", but bear with me. My parents watched our boys the other night so Josh and I could go out for a friend's birthday dinner, and I could tell the boys were feeling a little "squirrely" when we left. They've been a little wound up lately (a little?), and honestly I've been a little grumpy lately- ya know those days when nothing fits, and all you want is chocolate and coffee?...
Anyway, I was "debriefing" with my dad, about how the boys did that evening, and he had some thoughts for me:

Kids thrive on routine. That's why they like the same songs over and over, the same movies over and over, and stick to the same "Teddy" (etc). We've enjoyed our kids being able to be flexible, but I do need to be more consistent, and have more times that are routine. Specifically, I'm processing a morning routine, we've already added a few minutes of "school" mid-morning, and I'm re-evaluating bedtime routine. I don't think kids need every minute mapped out for them, but definitely the familiarity of how our days go.

In today's society, we are TOO BUSY. It used to be that kids played at home most days, and the best part of each day was when Daddy came home in the evening and played on the floor. ( I have great memories of my Dad on the floor, making catapults out of Lincoln Logs :) ) Now, most kids are either in day care, and/or pre-school most days, and evenings are filled with soccer/dance/etc... for us it's Bible study, youth group, and Love & Respect. I've been working to be home more during the day with the boys so they can settle in and play, but I haven't figured out what the proper balance is with our evenings. I know life has changed, and it's not possible for a lot of moms to be home with their kids, but I sure wish we could all go back to how things used to be... since we can't, I've been processing how to simplify.

Over-stimulation. Lots of toys, games, media... we've tried to not end up with lots and lots of toys, but I am going to only have about half out at a time, and rotate what's available. Then maybe they will play with the ones we have out, instead of just spreading them everywhere! It's hard to un-do in this area for me. It's hard for me to believe that my kids' imagination with lead the charge, when there isn't too much stimulus. We'll see, in time, if these changes are effective. We've tried to also only offer them movies/shows that don't just entertain, but correlate with their imaginations: PBS Nature has been fun (ok, so I don't agree with the millions and millions of years stuff, but there are lots of them that don't get into that), and Netflix "all about" series has been fun, too (it's an old cheesy show about tractors, trucks, helicopters, boy-stuff :)).

I certainly don't have my children squeaky-clean, and in a uniform line-up. They are wild, rambunctious, and get into trouble every day. My goal isn't to make them into little mice that never leave home. My goal is to re-arrange life (and give up things, if I need to...) in a way that brings more peace in their hearts, and encourages more content, imaginative play time.

I could use some seasoned-mom feedback on sleep! Anybody have advice on mornings? My boys are getting up earlier and earlier, and also waking up tired and grumpy- crying sometimes, and other times just cranky and restless ( funny, I wake up cranky, too, and I FEEL like crying, cuz it's so early!). Any thoughts, fellow Mommas?

Thanks, Dad, for the chat, for watching my boys, and for playing Lincoln Logs on the floor with us!