Quality vs Quantity

I finally figured it out... The secret to this whole working mom thing. At least for me. Quality vs quantity. Duh, right?

I got off work early yesterday, but the kids were already planning on being in daycare since Levi worked at 2. Well, if you have ever tried to clean the house with kids, you know why I still took them to daycare and came home to clean. It's amazing how much I can get done without two little midgets running around undoing everything! It was amazing! My house looks amazing!! (And it's still clean this morning!!) And, if you know me, a clean home puts me in a good mood :) It was a disaster the whole week. Levi has been keeping up on the dishes - love him <3 - but not much else got done. I was absolutely unmotivated this weekend. Exhausted. So the house stayed a mess. A big mess. Until yesterday :)

The kids had been home all morning with Levi, so it's not like they were there all day - if they had already been there all morning, I don't think I would have left them in. I know Levi hates the shifts he works, but it's nice that the kids do get to stay home more with at least one of us. We also pay for up to 25 hours a week no matter what - the part time rate - and they are only in 12 hours this week (including yesterday). It has been like this for a few weeks now. I figure, if we're paying almost $600 a month for daycare, I might as well use it! My ultimate reasoning for still taking them while I was not working was this: They could either spend 6 hours with me as I try to clean - and we'd probably all end up grumpy, or I can spend 3 hours cleaning while they play with friend and then bring them home to play with me, which is what we did! We played with blocks, had a tickling war, ate dinner while watching "Letters" (Wheel of Fortune), and cuddled, per Lucas's request. (He wants to cuddle more lately, and I love it!!)

If I could stay home, cleaning would still be hard with kids, but I figure I would have most of the day to do it - or at least more than I do now. I know there's still juggling that goes on when Mom gets to be home, but it feels a little harder to juggle everything else when I'm at work 9 hours a day. Kids-free cleaning is the way I am able to juggle it all. Whether I have Grandma watch them for a few hours or send them to the daycare that we've already paid for - Grandma is very  busy - this is what works for me. You have to find out what works for you, and don't let anyone bring you down because of it. (I mention it at work and sometimes get a little flack for it. Whatev.) I would much rather spend 3 great hours with my babies than 6 stressful, juggled hours. So that's exactly what I did :)