Computerless

Wednesday afternoon our computer got sick. Tim took it to EMSI on Thursday morning, hoping one of the guys here could fix it for us, they can, but it won't be ready until next week.

Not having a computer definitely has it's up's and down's.

The downs, I'm not able to keep up with my family on FB, a lot of the recipes I like are still online, and Tim and I aren't able to watch Chuck.

The up's, this has caused me to realize exactly how much time I was wasting. I've been keeping the apartment clean, I did 4 loads of laundry yesterday including folding, putting away, AND ironing. And as sad as it is to admit, I'm spending more time with my kids.

As a stay at home mom it's so easy to say "I just need a few minutes to myself", and to say it many times a day, and act on it. At least it is for me. I'm exhausted at the end of every day, no matter how much or how little seems to get done. And I always seem to think it's because I don't have enough time to "breathe". That's a very lame excuse. At least it was in my case (not for everybody, but DEFINITELY for me). No, it's because I was spending too much time focusing on "me".

Yesterday Riley really wanted me make "cakes" with her. I was in the middle of deep cleaning my room. I remembered reading something online once where a parent set a timer for 20 minutes, and told the child that when the timer went off they would set it again for 15 minutes and spend that entire time with them. When the timer went off again, it was time to clean more and they would once again set the timer. So I decided to give it a shot. It was easy to finish my room within the 20 minutes, and it was nice just sitting with Riley and having her serve me her circle cakes that she so carefully had assembled for me. That's how the next few hours went until the apartment was cleaned. The rest of the day was spent just being with them By the time the girls went down for the naps they had full love tanks, and I had a clean apartment, and truly time just for myself. The computer wasn't used at any point to keep my girls happy, it was all me.  It occurred to me how often I not only used the computer to entertain myself, but the girls as well. It's embarrassing, but the truth.

I find that I am loving our new schedule. The girls are happier, I'm happier. Now I'm not saying that I won't be happy when our computer is returned home (I'm currently at EMSI with Tim and the girls), it's great for keeping up with my family and friends, great for new recipes, great for relaxation with my hubby. But I won't be turning it on until my checklist is complete, and I've had some good 1 on 1 time with each of my girls.