Bracing for Chaos
The MPB household is gearing up for a very challenging month and half. We’ve known about the impending chaos for a few months now, and I think both Mr. MPB and I just kept trying to ignore that it was coming. But, now that it’s upon us (as in, it started last week) I can feel the stress in our house already ratcheting up a notch or two.
You see, Mr. MPB and I have conflicting schedules with things that must be done. I am in courses every Friday/Saturday for the next 6 weeks – if I don’t take these courses now, I will not complete a certificate program that I’ve been working on for a few years. I didn’t take them the year Little MPB was born, and now I have to catch up or start over. The courses are not cheap, so I am not starting over. As for Mr. MPB, his schedule also cannot be changed as it is dictated to him by things outside of his control. Basically the stars have aligned in a very unfortunate way and the next month and a half are going to be tough for the MPB’s.
So, while I’m in courses every Friday and Saturday, Mr. MPB will be away every single weekend through November. We’ve actually hired our old nanny to help us out on Saturdays. Thank god she’s available and willing – at least we know Little MPB is in good hands.
Given all of this and a scheduled trip to visit family, we will not spend a weekend together at home, as a family of 3, until the weekend of December 16!!! And then it’s Christmas, which I don’t even want to think about yet. Okay, now I’m realizing that we wont have any real downtime from now until January 1, 2018. (And, maybe, just maybe, I’m ready to admit that it may be a good thing we don’t have a puppy yet).
Plus, we will also be trying to juggling our regular work week schedules with both of us having out of town commitments. Mr. MPB has 3 out of town weekdays scheduled in a row and I have 4 out of town weekdays scheduled sporadically throughout the month, but I expect there to be at least 1 more added. If I can add correctly, this means just in November alone there are 15 nights, possibly 16, that one of us will be away for the night!! I’m exhausted just thinking about it!
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What does this mean for us?
First, both Mr. MPB and I are undoubtedly going to be exhausted and grumpy in the coming weeks!
Second, we will have to be patient with one another as we try to juggle everything. I have no doubt our tempers will be shorter the normal so we are going to have to let little annoyances go and pick our battles wisely.
Third, we are both going to have to help each other out without having to nag and beg for help. I will have to cook more. Mr. MPB will have to help grocery shop and do laundry. And, we are both going to need to use our limited free time to make an effort to stay on top of the general day to day household cleaning.
Fourth, we are going to have to plan our meals better then ever if we don’t want to eat out constantly.
And lastly, if we expect to get to the middle of December without any massive arguments (or at least a limited number of), we have to communicate really well with each other.
Wish us luck, because I think we are going to need it!
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Oh wow. We were just talking about Amazon, if only they delivered meals! I will be keeping you in my thoughts this month that you will not only survive but thrive. I know that sounds cliche and I know that you are pretty practical with expectations, but I hope you are pleasantly surprised at least a couple times this month.
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If nothing else, I am pretty practical. You know me well. 🙂
And, gosh, if Amazon delivered meals, my life would be transformed!
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I can relate. October was an unbelievably busy month for our family: lots of work extra-curriculars for both my husband and me, heavy workloads, and multiple social commitments and school closures for half-days and two full days, as well as parent-teacher conferences. Whew! When you are in a season like that, all you can do is keep on keeping on and muddle through.
Don’t know if available in Canada, but a meal delivery service like Hello Fresh or Blue Apron could be a help.
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Omg I’m stressed out for you… I think you should book a staycation for early January where you both book a week off and just stay home/local and relax, catch up on the important things, and have family time. I know I’d need something like that to look forward to if my next two months looked at crazy as yours. Good luck pushing through it!
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Yikes…I always find the fall is the busiest time right until after the New Year! I can’t even imagine with all the rest of that added into the mix…you will be on busy family! It’s wonderful that your old Nanny is available!
Don’t forget to skip the meals and order take out every once and a while to give yourselves some quality family time!
P.S: January is a wonderful time to get a puppy! 🙂
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Good luck!! My only suggestion is a shared to do list and calendar in Google, that way you can see at a glance what housework needs doing, and where you both are. If you have a chance, double what you cook and freeze, also, slow cooker meals are your friend! Curries, soups, spag bol sauce, can all be tossed in the slow cooker in the morning, then ready at dinner time. I have a shiftworking spouse (law enforcement) and when I was working full time, we often had periods where we high fived each other in the driveway or one or both were out of town with work, on training etc.
You can do it!!
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This sounds like my normal life. Lol. C goes away for work infrequently but I’m somewhere new every other week. It really makes for tough times feeling connected when we are only together for a day or two and then I’m gone again. The holidays seem to make everything much worse as far as stress levels. I’m glad you have the nanny for extra assistance. Good luck being gentle with yourselves
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Oh my!! We had a busy few months and it drove me crazy after a while, and we weren’t even away from home and doing things solo at the time!! I hope you guys can get things done and help each other out and get through it all without too much drama. We just found out that B’s sister’s back is very messed up, so they won’t be travelling for the holidays like they usually do. So we’re trying to figure out when we will be going down there…and I’m not looking forward to staying in one bedroom with C, sharing the wall to the living room with surround sound against our headboard like we did last time we went down there. I hope your holiday plans don’t get too crazy on the tail end of all this work madness!!
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Good luck! It definitely sounds like a very busy time coming up. I know you guys will get through!
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Oh boy…Good luck! Try and make sure you’re getting the sleep you need. Praying you don’t exhaust yourselves into sickness!
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