It's been a lovely quiet week in our house over the past few days. At the start of the week, I managed to run a few errands, yesterday the girls and I took advantage of the warmth and sunny weather and had a picnic lunch by the river and today we had friends over for lunch and a play. A nice balanced week in my books.
Along the way however, there's been a few blunders and lessons learnt. Perhaps by recording them here, I'll be less likely to make the same mistakes again...
Lesson #1... Trying to cook when Sophie is napping and therefore choosing to not use a kitchen timer is not wise. It usually leads to something being overcooked or burnt which was the case not once, but twice this week. Not wanting to risk waking her, I thought I'd be safe without the oven timer. However, a burnt quiche and an overcooked cake proved this wasn't a good idea.
Lesson #2... Leaving the task of wrapping birthday presents until the last minute only leads to tears. A while back, I thought I'd be organized and ordered a cute print off Etsy for a friend's upcoming birthday. I was excited about being able to wrap it prettily and looking forward to giving it to my friend tomorrow morning when we are meeting for coffee. However, as I went to put the print into the frame tonight, I found the one I'd bought wouldn't fit properly. Fortunately my friend knows me well and will understand my mortification at not having her present ready to give her tomorrow. I just wish I'd put her gift together a fortnight ago when I initially bought it.
On a side note, if you're looking for cute tags to add that perfect finishing touch to a gift, check out the ones above by Sarah of Molly's Maison - so pretty!
Lesson #3... Trying to run an errand during the chaotic period after five o'clock is not ever going to work. Last night, I thought I could leave the girls with Paul and pop down to the shops to pick up a few things quickly in between feeding the girls and dishing up our own tea. However, queues are always longer than expected, parking spaces hard to find and consequently, the whole nighttime routine ends up being pushed back later and children become even more ratty than they already are at the end of the day.
How about you? Any lessons you've had to learn the hard way this week?
I love those butterfly tags! I've had to learn to try harder to be mentally present, even when I feel frazzled. I had a chaotic day at work yesterday and without thinking, somehow managed to throw my paycheck in the trash! Thank the Lord I was able to find it but it put me leaving work 15 minutes later than I could have.
ReplyDeleteI am a slack last minute person alllll the time so I feel your pain!
ReplyDeleteMaybe use your mobile alarm? Not so loud as the oven one and you can set yourself up somewhere well away from Sophie's room with it?
Hi Amanda,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the mention - I will get your goodies into the post today by the way - thank you!!
I make a lot of mistakes, often, and often repeat them too. Not a quick learner it seems. My mistakes are mostly through being too busy and then forgetting something, generally in relation to work. It's difficult when I am not a naturally organised person.
Have a lovely weekend xx
Hi amanda, dont the queues always take longer than you ever expect?! gets frustrating!! hope you have a lovely weekend and get lots of successful cooking done!!!
ReplyDeletelaura xx
oh i totally understand what you're saying -- and i've given up on trying to do any cooking when olive is sleeping because the sleeps range from 30 minutes (!!) to almost two hours (very rare - on average the morning one it 45min-1hr and same in afternoon)....so if i start something only to have her wake it doesn't work.
ReplyDeletei usually don't wrap things too early because we don't really have anywhere to store them until present-giving time...but if it's something like a print in a frame, i'd do that bit earlier.
Hi Amanda..maybe there are timers out there or even a clock radio set up where music or something soft just reminds you of cakes ready! I have just bought some lovely butterfly stamps and this is a fine way to use them..thanks.
ReplyDeleteThose tags are really sweet. Thanks for the link.
ReplyDeleteI'm learning about how good it feels to sometimes stop what I'm doing and just "be" with Skye and Joy. I know how important it is...but sometimes I find it hard with the neverending list of things to do.
I hope you're having a fun weekend. xx
PS. Love your new layout.
It's hard when little ones wake due to sudden noises and burnt food isn't fun either:( For me this week I have learnt to just focus energy on the information that I haven been given, not to think ahead it allows me to be able to cope much better with situations that I know in the end I can't control. I hope that you've had a wonderful week. xx
ReplyDelete