Little Things I do
I lead a busy life.I am a human being, a woman, wife,mother, business owner and business driver. Till recently when I completed my course,I was also in fashion school where I did a one year course on Pattern drafting and fashion designing. Sometimes, I feel like I cannot find a moment to even take a deep breath, I sometimes ask myself,how do you cope?
Well,let me explain what my life is like right now and how I have managed to hold it all together(at least I am trying to). My typical weekday starts at 5.00am. I have two kids who are aged 3 and 7 years old,they have to get ready for school as they go by school bus.I usually have about 60 -80 minutes to get them and everything ready before they leave home, so I wake up and get right to it,I usually would cook two different meals for them to take to school, one which they will eat at 10.30am during break and the other which they will eat before they start their after school classes. They also have to eat breakfast before they leave home, so I basically will have to make 3 meals but their breakfast is usually the easiest as they start their day with cereals most of the time,it could be pap,oats,corn flakes,bread,tea and egg or anything quick and easy to make.While I am cooking,hubby bathes our son and supervises our daughter while she brushes and bathe,he then helps them to get dressed while I pack their meals into their different lunch bags and flasks. The bus arrives and they are off to school,I either go back to bed to snooze for an hour and a half or if I have anything to do,I do it then get ready for work.
It is usually difficult getting things done at home because I work 6 days a week with one free week day, I do not have a help or nanny,I have never had one,by choice though,so hubby and I agree on things we need to do during the week to make running the home easier for me,he helps me out with a lot of things and I am grateful for his help, I probably will not be able to cope if I was married to one of those men who believe that everything in the house should be done by the woman( all those of you husbands who are like that, Jesus is watching you).
I shop in bulk for food stuff and soup condiments,this makes it easy for me to whip up a meal in record time. I buy my tomatoes in bulk,pepper,onions,plantain flour,beans,rice,yam and stuff like that, I wash and freeze my tomatoes and pepper with a huge sack I put in my freezer,I keep my blender functional as I do a lot of blending, I don’t boil my tomatoes for stew as I prefer the taste of fresh tomatoes. I buy sweet potatoes,yam,irish potatoes and onion every 2 weeks and I buy 2 loaves of bread and freeze it through the week(I eat whole wheat bread once in a while but bread is not a prominent part of my meals)so I go without even the bread for months.I buy my beef,local chicken,wash and freeze too,also same for my fish. That way,I reduce the time I have to spend in the market shopping by almost half. I make my soup for the week on Sunday night,I boil 2 mudus of beans with my pressure pot and store them in 2 litre bowls and freeze it,sometimes I blend some fresh tomatoes and pepper that I freeze for just a day for things like jollof rice,spaghetti and egusi soup or sauce for eating yam.
I love to cook so I do not mind cooking at anytime of the day,so sometimes,my soups get cooked late into the night,sometimes I am up till 2.00am cooking but I do not mind because I like to know that my family is well fed and happy,my kids are grubbers so food is very important to me.
As for house-keep,Mike and I manage it between us,Nicole is also getting involved as she cleans up after herself, arranges her wardrobe on weekends, sweeps and mops their room. I am however considering getting someone who will come on my day off to do a thorough cleaning of the house because I realize that I end up spending my day off,cooking and cleaning every week.
Every opportunity I get, I sleep or just lay down without stressing or obsessing over anything. You see, everyday, I feel like I am walking on a tight rope,this is because I have learnt to place a timeline on everything I do,I have a goal that is short term and to achieve it,this is the way it has to be. However in all of these, I keep at the back of my mind that life is short and nothing and no one lasts forever,so I focus on what is important.
Life is short,focus on what is important to you and in all of that,find time to be good to others and also be good to yourself. Be happy!
Image credit:www.istockphotos.com
wow so true of a typical hard working woman. you are such a wonderful woman i enjoyed reading from top to bottom. you are very lucky you got a very supportive husband .I don’t have a free time anymore .#wearesuperwomen