It's all Maintenance

Today, success was all about maintenance.  Mondays are always difficult for the traditional reason of following the weekend, and they always seem to catch me off guard somehow.  We have gotten into the routine of doing all of the laundry (which takes all weekend for 6 people) and deep-cleaning the house on the weekends.  I haven't quite figured out if this is to recoup from the previous week or to get ready for the next one.  In either case, I usually undo all of it on Monday just trying to keep up with everything else that is going on around here.  The school dismisses an hour earlier than normal on Mondays for scheduled staff meetings, which shortens the naps of the little ones, thus ensuring for an afternoon and evening filled with meltdowns.  Today was one of those rare Mondays, though, where the balance wasn't tipped.  Nap time worked out early enough that everyone woke up happy. I took advantage of nap time by catching up with the expense reports for the daycare. The older kids were not forgotten at the school because of the oversight of early-release day.  And, somehow, I mastered the art of "Clean As You Go", which has been tirelessly taught to me by my husband, and there are no dirty dishes despite 3 fully prepared meals.  We finished homework, dinner as a family, bath time, story time and bed time with really no chaos.  I even had time to study for my Biz Law exam and to post to my blog.  I'm sure that these days happen more frequently than I acknowledge, but today I really took the time to appreciate the harmony that came from keeping the routine.  It was all about balancing priorities and at the end of the day, I felt like a hero.  It may sound a little arrogant to be my own hero, but if you are a stay at home mom of 4 children, who runs a home daycare and goes to school and managed to make it through a day with no tiny tragedies, no dirty dishes and everything crossed off of your list...you would be your own hero too.