Why I Haven't Been Blogging

Sigh.

I miss it.

I really thought by now…a full four weeks after having moved into the new house…I’d be back on track.

But I’m not.

After the first week or so, we were fully functional here.  We have all the necessities unpacked, and all of the main living spaces are in order.  I still have the office to organize, I still have my china and crystal to unpack, and there are a few random boxes that I don’t even want to think about delving into, but all in all, we’re in decent shape.

I just don’t feel like we’ve found our groove yet, though.

A big part of it is that things are downright busy, apart from all the house stuff.  I stopped to recognize on Saturday that the previous four days, we’d had somewhere to be, bright and early.  Tuesday and Thursday were school days; Wednesday the girls had flu shots; and Friday the girls had their field trip to the orchard. 

On days where we have to be somewhere in the mornings, I usually make my coffee in a travel mug.  That indicates I don’t have that precious time of the morning I’ve enjoyed for the past couple of years…the time after breakfast when the girls play nicely and Mommy has her coffee / computer time.  It has typically been during this time that I’ve written my blog posts…organized my to-do lists…gotten myself together for the day.

Hmmm…maybe that explains the helter-skelter feeling I can’t shake.

The other big factor, I’ve finally decided, is the new dynamic of the girls’ play spaces.  In our old house, the girls spent 90% of their waking time in the den, which was open to the kitchen.  They played in the living room, too, but that was just off the den.  In any case, they were always within 30 feet of me, at most.  All their toys were there, too.

In the new house, we haven’t really defined a play space on the main level.  We’re lacking a rug in the den, so although we have a bookshelf with some of the girls’ books, it’s not very inviting to sit down and read and play.

The girls have a fantastic play space in the bonus room.  It’s nothing short of awesome to see their toys so nicely organized, complete with a dress-up area and room for their play tent.  Although they’re closing in on five, though, they don’t have much experience playing totally by themselves.  They’ll play for short periods of time, but they haven’t been engaged for more than 30 minutes or so without needing a dose of Mommy.

We are really blessed to have a big basement, perfect for the indoor soccer ball and Frisbee.  That’s garnered the majority of the girls’ attention, the opportunity to run at full speed, any time they like.  That seems to call the girls away from their play room, too.

I say all this to say that the girls’ playtime is not as focused these days as it always has been.  I typically spend quite a bit of time playing with them every day, but I have always been able to step away for a bit of “quiet time” – for me and for them – in the early afternoon.

We just had a conversation today about how important some downtime is for all of us each afternoon.  I’m hoping to get back on track with that…for everyone’s sanity.

It’s all a process, I know.  And these are first-world problems, for sure.  But I’m ready to find our new groove and get back to basics (and to blogging).