Confessions of a Working Mother...

I've been reading Stephanie's Blog lately and she has been doing a lot of posts about being frugal, homeschooling, organizing etc.... She reads a bunch of other mom's blogs about similar stuff. I check them out when I get a free moment. I used to be one of them. Until Jude turned three I was a stay at home mom. I used cloth diapers, made my own baby food, cut coupons and I would drive to 4 different grocery stores to buy specific sale items at each. But, alas, last fall I had to go back to work. We changed jobs and after working and reworking our budget I had to accept my working mother fate. I took a "part-time", yet crazy schedule job teaching abstinence in the local schools. It was fun but Jake and I had to work opposite shifts and we never seemed to get anything accomplished. I hated working opposite each other but we did save on babysitters (we didn't need one most of the time) and our kids at least got to be with one parent at all times. Unfortunately, my job didn't pay that much and we barely could pay our bills. We were still very frugal and pinched every penny. Fortunately, that only lasted 8 months or so. This past spring Jake and I decided to change careers/jobs. So....as most of you should know, we now work pretty much the same schedule and we have a full time babysitter. We (well our children) really lucked out because she (Alicia) comes to our house and the kids get to be in their own environment. She is great with them and takes them to do all the things I wish I had time to do (zoo, the park, swimming, etc...). They get to take naps in their own beds and play with their own toys. So that part is great.
As far as our new jobs - Jake loves his job and is eager to learn more and move up the company ladder (it is a short ladder...I think 15 employees???). I was pretty bitter about working. I really REALLY want to stay at home. But I have come to terms with the fact that I have to work. It doesn't matter how frugal I am or how much I go without we have accumulated bills in the past that we have to pay for now. I do enjoy my job. It is going well and I am making a little more money. I have the potential to make a lot more. So, it is motivating.
So, now for the confessions. Now that I am working full time I am not as organized as I used to be. I have tried and tried to get on some sort of schedule for cooking, cleaning, etc... but I still haven't gotten into the groove. I don't cut coupons or shop sales. I rarely go to Aldi's because it is out of my way and I don't shop at 4-5 different stores anymore. I shop at one. It is not the cheapest but I earn money off my gasoline (and it is close to my home). As far as cooking....well, I've cooked twice this week, which is more than I cooked all last week. I keep taking the time to write out a menu but then I don't follow through. I forget to thaw something out or I don't have time to get it together the night before. Because I make these BIG plans and don't follow through, I have recently let several things rot in my fridge (greens, peaches, cabbage that I bought for cabbage rolls, fennel, a ton of fresh basil that I planned to make into pesto and freeze). How wasteful of me. It is embarrassing. I have also been buying frozen prepared meals. I am a "home cooking" kind of lady so this has been a big step for me. Last Saturday I decided to have a deep cleaning day. We have lived in our house for 2 months and we hadn't had one. I barely had any cleaning supplies. Jake and I talked about it and we joked that I really am frugal! I have been saving a ton of money by just not cleaning. You really can save by not buying those expensive cleaning supplies. And speaking of cleaning....Jude's Room. ARgggghhhh. It is awful. I mean it is such a mess. You can barely walk through it. And guess what. I really don't care. I try not to go in it. I've decided it just isn't that important. I also don't make my own bed 75% of the time. I know it only takes a minute or two but honestly, I just don't have a minute or two. I used to believe that old saying "you make time for what you want to do". Well, I do think it is true to an extent- I do what is the most important but I don't get to do everything that is important. I wish I had more time. Then I could blog more and take my kids to story time at the library. We do eat together and take family walks/hikes each night. All I know is this....It is just a season.