Today I felt VERY good about an article that was published in The Church News on February 7th, 2009. It was a synopsis of a visit that Julie Beck, the General Relief Society President, recently made to California.
"Sister Beck said that she learned how to prioritize her time as a wife and mother while observing her father-in-law, a steel worker who at various times in his career worked the day, evening or night shift. She said she realized she (as a mother and wife) was working all three shifts simultaneously, and she had to prioritize the demands on her so she could provide the service her family most needed.
'The most valuable time of the day for a family,' Sister Beck said, 'is in the afternoon/evening shift.'
'Be at the top of your game on swing shift,' she said. 'People are hungry, people are teachable. You feed them; that's when you serve them the most. Plan for swing shift, and then work the rest of your day around that."
Isn't that nicely said? I love Sister Beck for putting it all into words for me.
Because I need to mother most intently during the swing shift, and because I want to "be at the top of (my) game" during those hours, I can use the middle of the day as preparation time. Doing so allows the afternoon and evening to be quality, undistracted time when the family is together.I understand what she is saying-- for several years now I have resisted being busy during the day hours. It seemed like I needed that time to do laundry, grocery shop, exercise, clean the house, and do other housekeeping so that I was ready to focus on the kids when they started coming home from school.
One way that I do that is by having a quiet time with Holden on most afternoons. We rest on my bed-- him with is garbage truck movie and I nap for a time. It makes such a difference in my energy level. I try not to feel guilty about it because it is so refreshing, but I often have to remind myself that I have short nights and get up at 5:30 am. I think that I earn my sluggish afternoon feeling.
Also, I've noticed, through error, that it doesn't work to have a solitary project I'm in the middle of during the afternoon and evenings either. Supervising and interacting means milling around with the kids and their friends, and taxi-ing for those hours. I save jobs for that time, like putting the garbage out, cleaning the kitchen, dinner preparation or weeding in the yard, so that I am working amongst the kids' play.
Anymore, I feel like I need to make the mornings and mid days less chaotic so that I can run the race when the kids get home. This line of thinking from Sister Beck makes me feel OK about that way of "planning" my days-- we just can't be going wild all the time and still have the energy we need to use the "swing shift" effectively.
But, like everything, it is always a balancing act-- I sure don't want to be poor steward of my day hours either.
"Sister Beck said that she learned how to prioritize her time as a wife and mother while observing her father-in-law, a steel worker who at various times in his career worked the day, evening or night shift. She said she realized she (as a mother and wife) was working all three shifts simultaneously, and she had to prioritize the demands on her so she could provide the service her family most needed.
'The most valuable time of the day for a family,' Sister Beck said, 'is in the afternoon/evening shift.'
'Be at the top of your game on swing shift,' she said. 'People are hungry, people are teachable. You feed them; that's when you serve them the most. Plan for swing shift, and then work the rest of your day around that."
Isn't that nicely said? I love Sister Beck for putting it all into words for me.
Because I need to mother most intently during the swing shift, and because I want to "be at the top of (my) game" during those hours, I can use the middle of the day as preparation time. Doing so allows the afternoon and evening to be quality, undistracted time when the family is together.I understand what she is saying-- for several years now I have resisted being busy during the day hours. It seemed like I needed that time to do laundry, grocery shop, exercise, clean the house, and do other housekeeping so that I was ready to focus on the kids when they started coming home from school.
One way that I do that is by having a quiet time with Holden on most afternoons. We rest on my bed-- him with is garbage truck movie and I nap for a time. It makes such a difference in my energy level. I try not to feel guilty about it because it is so refreshing, but I often have to remind myself that I have short nights and get up at 5:30 am. I think that I earn my sluggish afternoon feeling.
Also, I've noticed, through error, that it doesn't work to have a solitary project I'm in the middle of during the afternoon and evenings either. Supervising and interacting means milling around with the kids and their friends, and taxi-ing for those hours. I save jobs for that time, like putting the garbage out, cleaning the kitchen, dinner preparation or weeding in the yard, so that I am working amongst the kids' play.
Anymore, I feel like I need to make the mornings and mid days less chaotic so that I can run the race when the kids get home. This line of thinking from Sister Beck makes me feel OK about that way of "planning" my days-- we just can't be going wild all the time and still have the energy we need to use the "swing shift" effectively.
But, like everything, it is always a balancing act-- I sure don't want to be poor steward of my day hours either.
