School lunches, clean and ironed uniforms, drop offs and pick ups, homework, after school activities. Dinner and dishes.

And repeat.

And repeat.

It isn’t going to take much before we could feel like we’re in that hamster wheel…….just keep moving………just keep the momentum going…..family life in full swing.

Preschool life, school life, working life, hobbies and interests, church life, sports.  That’s a lot of balls to juggle.  How do you stop it all from consuming you?  How do you keep joyful in the midst of your taxi-driving and piles of paperwork that demands your attention?

And for those of you who are currently in the preschool trenches – when your nights are constantly interrupted and you’re not sure if you’ll ever get little Johnny to pee pee in the potty, and you’re concerned about behaviors and habits and EVERYTHING that goes hand in hand with the challenges of toddlerhood and babydom…..how do you keep your perspective balanced?  Because, I believe that perspective needs to be balanced, otherwise you’ll be eaten up, continually consumed by the demands of parenthood….if you don’t keep your perspective above and beyond the piles of laundry you currently face….

So….a two pronged post here………how do you keep your family humming happily, and avoid the ho hum hamster wheel of life when life is in full swing……..and/ or……how do you stop the concerns of life with little ones, from eating you alive?

I’ll share a few things I’ve learnt recently…….but please, do chime in with your thoughts and your experiences in the comments too…….remember – we’re all in this together……we have much to learn from each other….

*  Look at what other families do for fun – and copy – steal ideas.  Sometimes ‘fun’ doesn’t come easily….borrow ideas from others…..be intentional with creating ‘fun’.  It doesn’t always just happen.  I’ll do another post at another time on fun family things to do with spending very little or no money.

*  If organizing doesn’t come easily and naturally to you, work on identifying a few things that will make your family life flow a little better.  It may be starting the week with an empty ironing basket, or filling the freezer with some extra meals or snacks.  We all have things that cause little hiccups along the way to happier mornings/ after school or evenings…and sometimes it doesn’t take much to eliminate some of these hiccups.

*  Delegate more – to older kids, spouses, friends…….see if you can carpool more or swap babysitting duties.  Remember the whole ‘it takes a village’……

*  Try to socialize with others occasionally who are one step further along in life than where you are – your babies will not be babies forever, your tween will soon be a teen……..watch and learn by osmosis……I can not tell you what I have learnt from my dearest friend who has one child the same age as my oldest, and she has older children as well…..’cos it is so much….so very much……watch and learn my friends.  And know whatever stage you’re in – it does pass!

*  I think it is a good idea to try to read at least one international news item a day – there’s a big old world out there…..and it is easy to forget when our right here and right now is so pressing, but, this big old world is important to know about.  Our worlds become more meaningful the bigger we make them.

Ok, so those are my few, simple thoughts…what can you add?