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Thursday, December 8, 2011

Time Management and Christmas Cheer!!!


Happy Thursday y'all!!!! Christmas is fast approaching and time is a precious commodity when you make home made gifts! I also have this crazy tradition where I make something for myself and my daughter to wear for every holiday!! If I don't do this, I feel like I am just not getting things accomplished! The other day the subject of time management came up on one of my Burdastyle project posts. One lovely comment complimented me on my pants and blouse project and asked me how I find the time for my sewing with being such a busy mother. This got me thinking that I should write a little bit about my time management. As you all know, or maybe not, I have 5 children ages 2-11. I also work part time from home as an interpreter. As you can imagine, my day is beyond busy and everyday feels like I am running a marathon! However, sewing is very important to me so I make the time to get a little done almost everyday. I think that it is important for a mother to take time for herself and her own endeavors. Sewing makes me happy and when I am happy, the rest of the family is happy too. I wake up early in the morning, before everyone else in the house and get things done! First I make my husband his food for his work day. I know this sounds a bit archaic but I look at it as something nice I can do for him that offers some comfort while he works his long back breaking hours. Then after I send him off to work, I sew. I usually sew for about 40 minutes to an hour and you would be surprised by how much you can get done! Of course I don't get anything done in one session, my projects are a result of many small sessions. I used to try to find big blocks of time to make projects and I never got anything done! As you can imagine, I never found that big block of time. It became frustrating and I was always upset about my abandoned hobby. So I decided to take just a little time each day to do this for myself and the results have been amazing. The rest of my day is crazy! So sewing is really my only quite time. Once my children wake up I feed them breakfast and get the older ones ready for school and get them off to the bus. Then I work for 4 hrs a day from home and my sister watches my 2 younger kiddos. When I get off of work I make my kids lunch and straighten up the house a bit. I have a little extra time then to just catch up with my little ones before the big ones get home. When everyone gets home, the kids from school and hubby from work, we do homework. I have to sit with each of my kids one at a time and check work and help them with what they are having trouble with. I also do some work with my younger 2 to help them prepare for all the learning they will have to do when they start school. I then make dinner, or my sister does since she is living with us right now. After dinner I give my kids baths and get them ready for bed. We read a story and I tuck them in. After that, I relax with my hubby and watch some TV or if he is playing xbox, I will prepare a pattern or cut some fabric. That is it! I also sleep 7 hrs a night. I do alot while I work as well, I am a multitasking expert. I have a little pedal bike thingy( not a real term!) that I pedal while I work on the phone. I do squats while I brush my teeth and push ups and crunches before bed. It is a sad work out routine I know, but it is all I can manage to squeeze in. So are my days are hectic, yes, but it is a good life that I live filled with great moments and small accomplishments!
So back to Christmas gift making! Next Thursday is the last day of school before break. So I have 1 week to get the teachers gifts done! I always make gifts because in my humble price range, I don't like the store offered gifts. I also like the personal touch of something home made. This year I am using the book One Yard Wonders as my life saver!!! I will be using this book to make some gifts for my kids as well. The greatness of this book is that everything takes just one yard, as per the title of the book. So that is a pretty affordable gift wouldn't you say?  For the teachers I will be making bags. The folklore bag to be exact. It is stylish and easy to make! Will I get them done in time? I need to make a minimum of 3 but would like to get 5 done for a total cost of $30. I am armed with coupons and a free Sunday of sewing with my 2 year old on my lap and my kids playing with Lego's under foot!  Wish me luck on maneging my time!


Besos!!!!!!!!!

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