Tips On How To Keep Yourself Busy When The Kids Are Not Home

Some tips on how to keep yourself busy when your kids are not around.

1. Spring Cleaning

2. Watch Movies with no age restrictions

3. Get Organised

4. Lunch Dates With Friends

5. Dinner Dates With Barry and Friends

6. Spontaneous Day Trips

7. Pamper Yourself

8. Just Walk Around

Spring Cleaning I knew I had a house to work through, because I never get time for this and it was bad. Not dirty, just messy. Thousands of things out of place and it can really work on my nerves. But I also knew I didn't just want to sit each day and sort through rubbish and waste precious time, because this time was a gift. A gift to recharge and recap. I decided to tackle one room a day, this way it would only keep me busy for about two hours each morning and I would still have the rest of the day free to do what ever I wanted. It worked perfect for me and the only room I didn't clean was the kids play room. The biggest mess in the house but when I started I just couldn't sit there and not hear their laughs and fights, so I left the room and never went back in there. It's nice to say that everything has a place again and my house is exactly the way I actually like it.

Movies With No Age Restriction Wow is all I can say. The junk on TV these days are insane. We've rented a couple of movies on Box Office but I was so put off the language that I found it hard to watch and pay attention. What happened to the good old movies from back in the day? I landed up watching different documentaries on Netflix and found that far more interesting and appealing. Fact is I watched more TV in the first two days than what I have in 8 years. It was nice in some crazy way.

Get Organised With four kids, six schedules, five pets and two domestics I have to be organised but there's always room for improvement. I sorted out the most important schedule and that was mine, as my schedule just always fits in wherever there's a small space. I don't know if it is going to work, but I am going to give it a try. If it works for two weeks, well then I had two weeks less chaos in my life. I spent a lot of time reflecting on how I spend my time and have come to the realisation that I do waste "my time" with things that can wait till later or fit in somewhere else so I am excited to see if it works better for me or not. I mean I can't change the chaos of all the different schedules but I can manage MY time better and keep the chaos under control.

Lunch Dates With Friends I didn't go out every day and some days I saw no one, but the few times I did it, I really had a good time. I went to places I never go with my kids and made the most of having a chance to talk in full sentences and being able to give my undivided attention to my friends. This was good.

Dinner Dates With Other Couples We went out for dinner a lot and it was so nice. We never get to go anywhere alone and I really appreciated the time spent with Barry. We also went out to dinners with friends which we both really enjoyed. It's not a life I can live all the time (for now) but doing it for a week was good. I need my kids, the noise and the homey home where there is mess, laughter and craziness.

Spontaneous Day Trips We only had one weekend at home without the kids. We decided that we were going to make a trip to Bloemfontein and enjoy the day there. On our way we booked a Hotel and decided to sleep over. We had such a nice day together and around 6pm we decided we wanted to go home and so we cancelled our accommodation and drove home. The funny thing about this was to just do what we felt like doing. Normally we would have to really plan things in detail and work it out, but we didn't have to do this for two weeks. We could just do what we want, when we want it and how we wanted. Spontaneous adventures is what I would like to call it.

Pamper Yourself I never do this, but I did a lot of it while the kids were gone. I took long bubble baths, wore face masks, went for my nails and my hair. I only had me to take care of and I made sure I did a good job. I even put cream on my body every single day! It's these little things that we land up not doing for ourselves anymore because we are so busy running around doing it for everyone else in the family. My soul and body enjoyed this.

Just Walk Around I can't tell how much I know of what is going on in all the shops at the moment. When I felt lonely I went to the mall. I never go to the mall, it usually irritates me and its too busy but it was good to greet the random lady looking at the same cream. It was good watching the mom struggle with her toddler that didn't want to get into they trolly. It gave me a sense of community and belonging. It made me feel less alone and there was sound. It's hard to get use to all the silence when you usually have four kids talking at the same time.

I Am Ready I am so so ready for my four crazies to be back home, I'm ready for our little adventures, fights, noise, laughter, cries, struggles, love, cuddles and fun. I have missed them so much and am really looking forward to having them around again. They are part of who I am. They make me who I am. I adore time with them and I don't like time separated from them. But with all that said, I know how important grand parents are in a child's life and I feel blessed and privileged that my four kids have the opportunity to build memories with my parents and keep these beautiful memories in their hearts... forever. It's special. I am thankful to my parents for this time. Time they invest into my kids lives, but also time they gave me to recharge. Am I ready for the third term of the year? Probably not, only because I don't like school but I am ready for my babies and I am ready to take on the world. My babies are home! xxx