I have had a lot of questions regarding how to organize housework, play time and learning time with preschoolers and toddlers. First, I would like to say if you are feeling exhausted, over-stressed, and frazzled you are not alone. I agree with Dr. James Dobson author of The Strong-Willed Child, he says, "I am especially sympathetic with the mother who is raising a toddler or two and an infant at the same time. There is no more difficult assignment on the face of the earth." Although, it is a difficult assignment it is not an impossible one. God is gracious and gives us what we need right when we need it. I can attest to this from my own personal experience. In fact, the Bible says, "He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young." Isaiah 40:11. Not only does God care about you and your children but he CARRIES YOU CLOSE TO HIS HEART and He GENTLY LEADS YOU. I don't know about you but that verse alone spurs me on to be a better mommy.

There are two essential keys to make life at home with little ones a little more productive. They are having a daily routine and having a daily plan. When my children were extremely young toddlers and an infant I had a daily schedule that was more like an order of events. It looked something like this:

- Eat breakfast
- Morning nap for infant
- Lunch
- Read Stories
- Nap for all children
- Make supper

In between those major events I would use my daily plan that was (and still is) in the form of a list to say what I wanted to accomplish for the day. I am more motivated to get something done if I have a list. (I love crossing things off my list - sometimes I add things to the list that I already did just so I can cross it off my list!). Now what should your list consist of? What is important to you? My list looked something like this when my children were all toddlers and preschoolers.

- put dishes away
- do a load of laundry
- get supper started
- finger paint
- play outside
- read my Bible

As you can see, if you were not surrounded by your sweet darlings it would take you less than an hour to accomplish those household tasks. But since you ARE surrounded you have to do things in small pieces. I might start putting the dishes away but will probably get interrupted about 15 times. So that task that would normally take less than 5 minutes might actually take 1 hour. Be reasonable about what is on your list. If you put clean the house on your list you are dooming yourself to failure every time. Then you will throw in the towel and lay on the couch in defeat.

When all three children were preschool age and younger I did the same thing with playing and teaching them. A good friend taught me this lesson when my twins were infants. She had just been diagnosed with MS and invited us over for lunch. She fixed us a great meal but I was feeling bad because people with MS have very little energy, have a lot of pain and are dizzy a lot. I asked her how in the world she had the time and energy to make the great meal. She told me, "Oh Amy, I got up a peeled the potatoes and then I sat down and rested. Then when I had a little more energy I cut up the potatoes and sat down to rest again. I cut the onion when I had a little more energy...." So this meal that would have taken me about 15 minutes to put together had taken her a couple of hours. I learned that day through her example that you need to learn to break up the tasks into small pieces and then the overwhelming task is doable a little bit at a time.

Educating our toddlers and preschools is the same way. Make a list of what you want to teach them then when you have a moment and take a few minutes to work on 1 item on your list. So if you put shapes on your list spend a few minutes drawing circles with your little one and saying the word 'circle' to them. When you go up the stairs make a habit of counting the steps as you go up and down pretty soon you will hear them counting along. Sing the ABC's when you are pushing them on the swings or giving them a bath. Take a moment to put a puzzle together or let them comb your hair and put “pretties” in it. Talk to them all the time and when they hand you a book sit down and read it to them. Turn off the TV and look your babies in the eye. They won’t be infants, toddlers and preschoolers for long – don’t miss it.

Now you are probably reading this and thinking that those first few years were easy for me and that I never had a bad day. There you would be so very wrong. I will confess that on Monday’s I buried my head under the covers and cried when my husband went to work in the mornings. I felt jealous and even angry that he got to be at the office while I got to listen to my new born infants cry all day. When my third child was born I hid in the bathroom on many occasions because I felt overwhelmed with the sheer amount of demand on my time and energy. I hid chocolate in our guest bedroom for those moments when I really needed a break. And one time I got so frustrated I walked out of the house and screamed at the top of my lungs to relieve stress. The children were very intrigued by that display of frustration. I think they wanted to join me.

We are all imperfect beings and we all fail sometimes but the goal is to set yourself up for success by setting up daily routines and a daily plan to help make like just a little bit easier. Remember that your first priority is to train up your children not have a totally clean house or to fulfill your career dreams. One day, your children will grow up and move out of the house - then you can have an immaculate house and go back to work. My guess is that it won't matter to you then. Instead you will wish for those days when your children were toddlers and making messes all over the floors.