Mod Apron

I found my voice…

…and it’s over here.

Folks, I’ve been struggling lately. Hence the lack of posts and the disjointed subject matter. Maybe you’ve noticed.

The problem, see, is that I lost my sense of direction with this blog. Homemaking, budgeting, meal planning, recipes, kids, motherhood, family life - these topics are only a part of the deliciousness that fills my day. So then, I started Mod Glo, which I’d hoped would provide a blogging outlet for my interest in food and nutrition, and also serve as a health journal as I worked to lose the baby weight after my second child was born.

But then, quite suddenly, I reached my weight loss goal and found that I didn’t have much more to say about it all. So I turned Mod Glo into a fashion and style blog. Are you keeping up?

It all seemed very confusing. Especially to me. My writing felt disconnected and it was difficult to tell where one blog started and the other blog ended. Moreover, I had too many blogs! And then the question dawned on me, like an epiphany from the heavens: Why am I making it so complicated?

The answer was clear, and oh so simple: Consolidation is key. And inspiration struck!

My life. My loves. All my interests. They all live here now:

www.flossyblog.com

I’m not setting any parameters, themes or tones for this blog. I’m just letting the bloggy goodness flow. My weird little life in words and pictures.

Why “Flossy”?

A few days ago, I was introduced to someone and they told me I was “flossy”. I didn’t know what it meant, but it seemed like a compliment so I just smiled. But the minute I got home, I looked up the word.

Flossy. adj /ˈflôsē/ : stylish or glamorous especially at first impression

There’s something about that word. I like it. I don’t know why, but it stuck with me and I’ve been thinking about ever since. And before I even decided to start my new blog, I had the perfect name already picked out.

Mod Apron and Mod Glo will be abandoned. At least for now. But I truly hope you’ll pop on over to my new digs at flossyblog.com and follow me there. I’m looking forward to picking up where I left off, but in a more elegant - and much less complicated - locale.

xo,

Hilary

When the cat’s away…

…the mice just kinda keep up the status quo.

Dennis is coming home tomorrow afternoon after 5 long days away. Yes, I’ve been flying solo with the kids over here and as much as I dreaded his trip, it’s not been too bad. Not too bad at all, actually.

I’ve been keeping everyone quite busy. Our days have been filled with playdates, park adventures, visiting friends, cooking, baking, cleaning and playing. Maya and I even had a special mama-daughter movie night last night! We had so much fun. We made a huge bowl of popcorn and ate ginger cookies and painted our toenails to match. 

I’ve also been very careful (in general, but especially over the last few days) to keep the kids on a fairly regimented schedule. And I must admit, it’s been great. The kids really seem so much more content and happy when we adhere to a solid routine. It helps me immensely too. When everything runs like a well-oiled machine around here, mama is a happy camper.

Here I thought I’d have all the time in the world to blog while Dennis was traveling. I envisioned lonely nights all by myself with nothing but the click of the keyboard to keep me company. Yet here I am on the eve of his return only to finally make my way to my computer for the first time in days. This single-parenting thing is busy.

But while it seems like I’ve been running around a little more and a little faster than usual while Dennis has been gone, nothing much has changed thanks to the schedule. We miss him madly but life around here just keeps on keepin’ on. I suppose I expected more drama (probably on my part, more than anything). I’m glad it’s been so easy.  

And anyway, my fella will be home sweet home tomorrow and I’m so excited to see his handsome face.

All the hours in the day

Lately, we’ve been experiencing some scheduling challenges here at Chez Apron. More accurately, our schedule has been in flux and I’m having some difficulty managing our time.

I am one of those mothers who firmly believes that kids thrive when they’re kept to a solid, predictable daily schedule. I’m not so militant that we can’t roll with the surprises that come up along the way, but I am pretty strict when I can be.

Henry is at an odd stage where he probably should be taking two naps a day, but will often take only one. The result is a kid with a seriously cranky disposition for much of the afternoon and evening. And, after a whole summer of attending day camp from 9:00am to 1:00pm every day, Maya is starting her second year of preschool at the end of the month and her new school schedule will be 1:15pm to 4:15pm. Basically, her day is turned upside down. We are a family in transition.

To top it all off, I’ve been making it a point to get to the gym almost daily. Which is great for my ass, but bad for our schedule. This means that somehow, I’ve got to fit an entire hour of gym time into a day that never feels quite long enough to get everything done in the first place. This has resulted in my dropping the ball somewhere - typically the laundry, the chores, my photography practice, or my blogging.

What’s a busy mama to do?

I wrote out a daily schedule today, which has helped to give me a picture of what an ideal day should look like. It goes something like this:

—————

6:30am - Mama wakes up, makes breakfast for Dennis

7:00am - Mama showers, gets dressed

7:30am - Mama wakes up the kiddos, gets them washed and dressed for the day

8:00am - Breakfast time for the kiddos (and coffee for mama)

9:00am - Kiddo activity (i.e. trip to the park, playdate, library, walk, or project at home)

9:45am - Kiddo snack time

10:00am - Henry’s first nap (approx. 1.5 hours)

12:00pm - Lunch time for mama and the kiddos

1:10pm - Walk Maya to school

2:15pm - Henry’s snack time

2:30pm - Henry’s second nap (approx. 1 hour) / Mama cleans, household chores

4:10pm - Pick Maya up from school

4:30pm - Prep dinner

5:30pm - Dennis arrives home; Family dinner time

6:30pm - Mama cleans up from dinner, Dennis plays with kids

7:00pm - Henry’s bath time, bedtime routine

7:30pm - Maya’s bathtime, bedrime routine

8:00pm - Adult time (reading, blogging, gym time, movie, etc.)

10:00pm - Bedtime

—————

I’d like to start implementing this schedule as soon as Monday. I hope it works as well in reality as it does on paper. The kids really need it. I really need it. Family life is so much easier (and everyone’s so much calmer and happier) when our time is well managed.

All the days in the week

Further to my last post, I thought it made good sense to set out a weekly schedule is well. Why stop at a daily schedule? Let’s look at an ideal week! You know I just love to be splendiferously organized!

Maya’s preschool schedule this year is a little funky. That is, she’s only in preschool on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, she’ll be taking part in some extra-curricular activities (soccer and ballet/tap). Additionally, Henry is enrolled in a baby music and baby gym class once or twice a week as well.

Also, I’ve recently discovered that our local library has a ton of free activities that both Maya and Henry can attend together. The library schedule is posted the previous week and features activities such as puppet shows, story time, rhyme time, family movies and more. Most activities happen before lunch, and there is a delicious park behind the library so we can pack a picnic and have lunch in the park before preschool. Ideally, we’ll fit a couple of library mornings into our week as well.

All this, coupled with my housekeeping schedule, means that I’ve had to move my grocery shopping day to Sunday (instead of Monday) for the foreseeable future. Our family’s weekly schedule is looking like this:

—————

Mondays:

• Maya - preschool
• Henry - gym class
• Mama - cleans kitchen

Tuesdays:

• Maya - soccer
• Mama - cleans bathrooms

Wednesdays:

• Maya - preschool
• Henry - music class (either Wed or Fri)
• Mama - cleanse kids’ bedrooms

Thursdays:

• Maya - ballet/tap
• Henry - gym class
• Mama - cleans master bedroom

Fridays:

• Maya - preschool
• Henry - music class (either Wed or Fri)
• Mama - cleans dining room/living room/hallway

Saturdays:

• No scheduled plans

Sundays:

• No scheduled plans
• Mama - grocery shopping

This schedule will be implemented starting tomorrow. Which means that, going forward, you can expect to see my weekly meal plans posted on Sundays from now on.

If it seems like I am a little too crazy militant enthusiastic about keeping us on a tight schedule, I’d agree that you’re probably right. But, as far as I can see, it’s the best and only way to keep an organized framework in place. My family seems to thrive on routine and honestly, it makes my life a lot easier too. There will always be days where the schedule falls apart, and that’s okay; it’s to be expected. But, maintaining a schedule is my only hope to keep this machine running smoothly. And more often than not, the day flows effortlessly and naturally through our scheduled activities and when that happens, it certainly makes for a peaceful and happy existence for everyone.

Keeping a schedule like this is certainly not glamorous, but it’s real and it’s a slice of our lives right now. And it keeps this mama (somewhat) sane and balanced.

Cleaning up this one horse town

You may have noticed a distinct lack of blogging happening over here. Don’t worry, I still love you.

I’ve been really focused on some projects at home and I’m in the midst of doing a major Spring Summer cleaning. I’m going as minimalist as I possibly can (in other words, practicing “rational minimalism” to the best of my child-addled abilities) and I’m looking at every room and asking: “How can I downsize all this stuff”?

You should see my closet. It’s a thing of beauty. I’ve got everything paired down to only stuff that I wear, fit me well, and that I actually like. Seems simple enough, but I was amazed by how many pieces of clothing I had that didn’t fit within that criteria. (As a delightful aside, I’ve also trimmed most of my wardrobe to about 3 colors - blues, greens and yellows - which, Ayurvedically speaking, are supposed to be the best for me to wear.)

I’m cleaning up this one horse town as well as turning some of the attention to myself. I’ve been going to the gym almost every day and I’ve finally lost a bit of my baby weight, thank goodness. I still have a bit more to go, but I’m definitely making headway. I’m rewarding myself with a much needed haircut this weekend. I’ve been growing my hair out over the last 7 or so months and it’s currently in an awfully shaggy in-between state. I don’t know what I’m going to do to it yet, but something must be done. Dennis is begging me to cut it short-short again but I don’t think I’m going to go there. I haven’t decided. All I know is that I’m overdue for a haircut something fierce.

I stayed up until 4am last night working on our budget. Puzzling it out. Crunching the numbers. We have our property tax bills coming due soon and it’s causing me some anxiety. California is not kind to the homeowner. We’re on spending lockdown until I can figure it all out.

Apologies for not delivering my weekly meal plan last week. As I mentioned, my focus has been elsewhere (there’s only so much mama to go around!). But, my meal plan inspiration is renewed and I should have one for you guys on Monday morning. I’ve got an interesting week coming up and those are the weeks that for me, are the most fun to plan out. I don’t know why; I guess I like the challenge.

Stay with me folks, and stay tuned. I’m still here. And more good stuff is on the way.