What DO You Do? Part Two

We're back for the second week of What DO you Do? 

This week's questions were: 

What things do you do outside of your home? Ex: volunteering, exercise, etc.

What do you do for you?

How do you keep your relationship going after kids?

What kind of groups are you involved in, if any? 

1. We actually try and get out of the house 4 out of the 5 days during the week that M is working. We head to the gym a couple mornings a week -- usually two -- and I can get some exercise in while the kids play in their child care room. They love that its different toys, and there are other kids for them to play with. One day a week we either head to MOPS or we go to the library for story time. The kids love the librarian, Nanny Belle, and its a good solid 45 minutes - 1 hour of activity, stories, music and fun. We pick one day to run our errands -- the grocery store, the post office, Target ... wherever we might need to go. And some weeks, we have a play date or two with some friends. Usually at the park, or Chick Fil A's indoor playground! 

2. Lately, I haven't been doing as much for myself. It's just a busy time of year, especially this year. We have the looming decisions from the prison about M's job that we are thinking about and trying to "what-if" plan for, plus two birthdays, thanksgiving and Christmas all together in a course of 2 months. Its a LOT ... and there is always something to get done. But when I do have some "me" time, I try to read [and always seem to have 3 or 4 books going at the same time, one in each room!]. I get to the gym a couple times a week to focus on myself. Occasionally there is a bubble bath, or a glass of wine. Just a few moments of time, but a nice little break, all the same. 

3. M and I have had our ups and downs. And I'll be honest -- some times it feels more like we are our childrens' parents than each others' spouse. And it can be even more difficult because we don't have much of a family system around us -- there isn't always someone who can watch the kids so we can go out for a date. But we try to make the most of our time together at home. We have a few shows that we always watch TOGETHER and always make sure that we are both sitting at the dinner table with the kids at the same time. Especially since we don't get a chance to eat breakfast or lunch together. We worship together on Sundays at Church. And it may sound silly, but we have two bedroom rules: A} We both go to bed at the same time and B} No tv in the bedroom. If one is tired and the other isn't, we'll sit around in the living room for a little bit. Once we are in the bedroom, without a tv, it allows us time to talk in the quiet and reconnect. 

4. I've been trying lately to get the kids involved with more, so they can socialize with kids their age. We don't really have many friends around us that have kids our kids' age {or we didn't until I started meeting other moms at MOPS} and we haven't decided if we want to go the Preschool route or not ... so socializing is key. MOPS is really the only organized group that we are active in, though. 

Are you a Mom?! What do YOU do? Click that button up there and join in the link-up fun!