How Do You Do It?

Lately I have been asked this question a lot.  Sometimes it comes in the form of "how do you find the time?"  But it's the same question.  How do I have time to parent, keep a home in order, get crafty, and then (on top of it all) blog about it?

Well hold onto your hats because I'm going to reveal--for the first time--my secret for doing it all.  Prepare yourself, this might just change your life.

1.  I don't clean.  I straighten.  Some ladies in my Bible Study asked me how I keep my house "so clean."  I told them not to look in the closets.  Or upstairs.  Or too close.  It also helps to invite a group of women over every Tuesday morning--kinda forces you to pick up a little, so their babies aren't crawling around in our funk.  The honest truth is that I was a much cleaner person when I worked and before I had babies.  Add a blog into the mix, and I basically ignore bathrooms until they are in crisis.  Like, need a therapist crisis.

2.  My kids watch TV.  Okay, so I used to be kinda against TV, or at least extremely careful about how much we watched.  Then I got pregnant for the second time, and found myself unable to get up from the couch for three months.  This did not go over well with my 2-year old, so we started watching more TV.  Now, I still don't keep it on in the background and I do limit the time we watch, but its also true that I occasionally blog while my boys watch cartoons.  How do I find the time?  By wrecking their brains on Blue's Clues, man.

3.  In spite of the fact that my computer is filled with high-quality JPEGs, I have no pictures.  For a long time I faithfully took a bazillion pictures, uploaded them to Snapfish every couple months and ordered my faves.  When they came I would put them in an album and label them.  These days, I barely take pictures of my boys, I certainly don't upload them (and forget about sharing with others), and (I'm not lying) the last picture in my photo album is of my baby turning one year old.  He turns two next month.

4.  I don't return emails.  I now consider two months adequate turn-around time for responding to emails.  I repeatedly have to apologize for "forgetting to email you back."  I feel like a class-A idiot but it'd just the way it is right now.  Some days I feel like my "to-do" list is a mountain, and I have to ignore what I can get away with ignoring.  Ignoring your email does not mean I don't care about you though!

The simple truth is that something has got to give.  I can't do it all, and no one can.  My life is hectic and crazy and imperfect, and I want y'all to know that.  So, if you have ever wanted to ask me "how do you do it?"-- well, now you know.  And now, you too can "do it all."  When your bathroom gets real funky, just don't blame me.