Stability On A Friday?

Why is Friday stability remarkable? Well, I generally refer to Friday as "Meltdown Day." Sound familiar? It's the fifth day in a slogging series we like to call The Work Week. But since my work is in a crowded home with three children and their varying needs, (including home education,) it can seem like a very long week. TGIF is not a thing for me. I thank God it's almost Saturday, or even, it's Friday night after the kids are asleep, but not TGIF in general. It's the last and longest battle. Thankfully, a weekend is two days to recover my loving perspective of stay-at-home parenthood. Weekends are my favorite.

We haven’t had a normal weekend for a while. Different things contributed to that, from travel to colds to guests. This one is going to be delightfully unhurried. I’m looking forward to the stability of our normal routine.

What a week it has been. Since we didn’t go grocery shopping, I’ve been “staying present” in the kitchen a lot more this week. I was raised to be frugal and creative in the kitchen, so we’ve had a good though sometimes  <ahem>  interesting meal each night. (Monday we got Chipotle because I was too stressed to cook, but it seemed to give me the break I needed to keep it together the rest of the week.)

Most of the kitchen creativity was a success, except possibly the pumpkin pie with too much ginger. The kids thought it was too spicy, so maybe we won’t call that a success, just a win (for me! I like ginger. I get more pie!) ;) And speaking of pie, because I love to speak of such a glorious invention, check out Mary Beth's blog series on #31 Days in the Kitchen. Some fun conversations are going down on that blog this month!

So I've managed a kitchen on few resources, and that feels like a great accomplishment. But right now our pantry stores are getting sparse. So I will make a list to ensure we don’t overspend; there will be more than the usual items this time. Will the grocery bill cause a weird interruption in my normal breathing pattern? Maybe. Add to that the anxiety of: how many extra calories am I allowing on my birthday? What manner of dessert will I choose for the celebration? Because not having to bake my own cake but still getting to eat cake is a huge thing for me. Huge, I tell you.

I am making light, of course. Sometimes a dose of humor is necessary for coping with the present. A little lightheartedness can go a long way, especially if you were to hang out 24/7 with my free-spirited offspring who at this very hour each day can produce plenty of whine to go with my cheesiness.

This stability challenge is no joke. I’m grateful for divine aid when I’m at my wit’s end at week’s end. And just for an extra measure of goodness, I have a stay-at-home date night with my husband to anticipate. Until then, my temper could possibly use a few more prayers. Ask me why I haven’t written about stability and parenting yet?

Read the rest of the 31 Days of Stability series here.