Many Hands Make Light Work

When Daddy comes home from work, it's a whirlwind of activity until it's time to put the boys down. Having only two hours a night with them, my husband treasures that time and seeks to put as much energy into his kids as he possibly can. I love it. Watching those three wrestle and hear their giggles makes my heart weld up with pride. They play while I make dinner, then we eat, clean up, give baths, read books, say our prayers and then it's off to bed!

I work hard all day - Andy does, too - but somehow, those last two hours seem the most taxing. For both of us. By the time we lay them in their cribs, all my husband and I want to do is fall on our bed in complete exhaustion and do nothing for the rest of the night. And that's exactly what we had been doing for quite some time. We'd go numb in front of the television and feel guilty for not doing something more productive.

This became a problem. You see, our boys go down at 7:30pm. That's a whole lot of time we're wasting by simply relaxing night after night after night. It's difficult to get much of anything done during the day while caring for my two busy toddlers. By choosing to relax the entire 11 hours while they slept through the night, my house got more and more messy, more chaotic, and I didn't even know where to start in getting it back together. My mood changed. I ate a lot of chocolate. I felt overwhelmed, discouraged and that I had gotten myself in too deep to recover.

So I did what any good wife does. I vented to my husband.

Now, girls. When you vent to your husband, be prepared to receive a solution. That's how our men were built: to solve problems. They don't enjoy seeing you suffer. They are wired to help. And thank God, my husband delivered when I needed it most.

We came up with a plan that involved both of us working together to help keep our house under control. Doing a little bit each day. And it's making a HUGE difference!

I am so grateful for a supportive husband! Here he is sharing a gentle moment with Ben (foreground) and Jack (on his shoulder.) I just love my boys!

When we put the boys down, my husband and I each work for about 10-15 minutes on anything constructive in the house. We're waiting for the boys to soothe themselves to sleep, so we try not to make a lot of noise by walking through our small two-bedroom apartment. But it's not difficult finding quiet things to do on that side of the house! We'll put some clothes away, open the mail, organize some papers in our bedroom, fold a pile of laundry or clean up the bathroom. We found that the progress we were making was intoxicating. Motivating. We'd finish a project and then look to find something else. We felt proud to have completed TWO things and so we searched out another. Night after night, we'd conquer a tiny piece of our world within that small amount of time and in turn, we wanted to be more productive again during the day. Now, I can get small projects ready when the boys are awake, knowing I will have some time to finish it in the evening. And the best part of this plan? My husband and I are working together!

It's so much more motivating to see progress happening when there are two people working on it!

"Many hands make light work," is a theme resonating with me after Mindy Mancuso spoke at our MOPS meeting this past week about that exact thing. It doesn't take a huge commitment. Start small. Do what you can. Talk to your spouse when you get overwhelmed and then take his suggestions. And trust me, those little things will make a HUGE difference.