This week was…intense. My 5-year-old was sick for the 4th time in six weeks with a double ear infection and bronchitis, thank you kindergarten. An overachieving 11-month-old who was determined to grow four teeth at once.
Oh, and let’s not forget the heartrending middle child, encroaching on 3, feeling left out from the attention his brother and sister are getting and determined to get mommy’s attention ANY. WAY. POSSIBLE.
Preferably via the glitter in the craft bin.
No worries, things happen. I have my team-mate. My co-parent. My partner in crime. Who has a super flexible job and can move things around as needed when things like this get crazy. Wait. Nope. I didn’t. He had an almost 50-hour week by Thursday. I’m The Solo Mama.
By Tuesday, I had accumulated a total of 8 hours of sleep (yes, I’m counting Sunday night as well).
No sleep.
Minimal food.
Lack of water.
Shower? Brush teeth? Clean clothes? Puh-lease. Don’t make me laugh (I really mean cry).
This should be part of some military training. What’s even crazier is that we chose to do this on purpose, but I digress.
My week clearly wasn’t going to get any better. Survival mode had been engaged. We can do this soldier (no I’m not talking to you, when in survival mode I talk to myself in third person, and plural apparently). It’s just my thing, let’s not look too deeply into it.
What does survival mode entail? I’ll tell you.
- The food = My Crockpot on steroids.
Luckily, last week I had already planned a few crockpot recipes when I grocery shopped during the weekend, since the weather is turning. I tweaked a few recipes so that I could make them around 1:00 when my littles go down for nap.
Now, if you don’t happen to have the ingredients for a crockpot recipe, I recommend utilizing a quick visit to Pinterest and grocery delivery. Expensive, but effective. The other option is to keep some cans of soup in the pantry on standby for sick kid meals.
It doesn’t stop there though, during survival mode I use my crock pot not once, but 2x/day.
Why do you use a crockpot twice a day Meg? Three words. Slow. Cooker. Oatmeal.
Throw in the oats. Add some water. Chop up some apples. A dash of cinnamon and BAM. Healthy breakfast you don’t have to make when everyone is hangry and demanding food. Bonus, you don’t feel guilty about what you’re feeding your sick kiddo.
- Pick your priorities.
I would love to prioritize getting dressed, brushing my teeth everyday (I know, its super gross), combing my hair, etc. I can’t though. I have T1D.
My priority is blood sugar. Water. Coffee. Food. In that order.
The first thing I do everyday is grab my water bottle and fill it up. I also happen to have a large water bottle that lasts me awhile, and I carry it with me to every room I go. Thumbs up to Costco. I make myself do this no matter what. It usually happens once the baby has nursed, and all three kiddos are at the table eating breakfast. This is when I make my coffee.
For the other things, I have quick grab foods that I can snack on if I don’t have time to officially eat. Think bananas. Apples. Fig bars. You get the idea. Just enough to get me calories and not cause a blood sugar fiasco.
Now. The other stuff. I can never seem to shower, wear clean clothes, get my hair done, makeup on and teeth brushed in one setting. I have two options I use to be more flexible. The first one is:
- I don’t get fixated on doing it all in one go.
I might throw clothes on first thing. My hair may get thrown up between activities with the kids. Brushing teeth might happen before bed. I keep my cool and squeeze it in when I can.
That’s the ideal survival mode, but sometimes I don’t even get that lucky. When that happens, I aim to just get ONE of those things done.
Usually brushing my teeth because just…shudder. So one day I get to shower. One day I might actually style my hair.
What does help is that I have a plethora of cute(ish) comfy clothes. When I’m super desperate I’ll just put those on at bedtime and then just roll out of bed and get to the emergency of the day. Kind of like what you do when you’re trying to wake up early to exercise.
- Chores.
What should be a four-letter word. When in survival mode your only job is to keep the tiny humans alive.
I only focus on keeping the two main areas of our house picked up; the kitchen and the play room. I wouldn’t even worry about the playroom so much, except my almost 1-year-old is in the voluntarily choking herself stage.
Even if I resort to TV for the boys, the dishes HAVE to get done. No matter what. In a family of 5, if I go even a day without doing dishes, we are out. Usually it’s twice/day. I do keep a stash of paper plates to use when a true emergency hits.
The other is laundry. I was given one of the most helpful advice from one of my friends during my postpartum period. She buys a laundry basket for each member of her family. When life is crazy, instead of worrying about folding and putting away she washes, dries, and throws the basket of clean clothes in each person’s room.
It’s contained, it’s clean, and it’s done.
- Recovery.
This is the most essential step, because otherwise you will be in no shape to face the next week, or the next crisis for that matter.
Front-load sleep.
I am a much happier and more effective mama when I get caught up on my sleep and I honestly have better blood sugar control as well. I go to bed when the kids do. That means 7-8 and then my husband will usually let me sleep in some too if he can (especially on the weekends).
When in recovery mode, take some time for you. No matter how difficult it is to turn away from your messy house.
This is when I take extra long in the shower, do my face mask, binge-watch my favorite show, do a craft…you get the idea. Anything that helps you recover, so that you have the mental energy to get back to the daily routine.
Which brings me to my last point;
- Re-establish your routines.
This week, now that everyone is better I am being a stickler for routine. This means, everyone in bed right on time, and naps followed religiously. As much as I want to get out, see other humans and interact with the world again, I know that for my sanity and my kiddos we desperately need this time. I also usually follow survival mode with a break from TV/media, since they often over-watch while sick.
That’s it. It’s not full-proof or exhaustive, but its kept my tiny people alive so far. What do you do to survive when life gets crazy?? Leave a comment. Inquiring minds (me!) want to know.
Always a Pleasure,
