I've been a nesting maniac recently. I never really "nested" too much with previous pregnancies I think mostly because I didn't have a whole lot to do or didn't know what to do when I was pregnant with Elle and Tashi. We were in a badly laid out house with the master bedroom downstairs and the spare rooms upstairs and I knew we weren't going to make a full out nursery as we didn't want to be running up stairs and down stairs. It also wasn't too difficult to find space for their things as at the time we had plenty of room. But this time I've been enjoying finding new ways to organize our home to make way for the baby's new clothes and things to fit with the rest of our stuff. But more on my organizing journey in another post. Today I've been thinking a lot about what the girls will do when I go into labor. I have so far had very long Prodromal labors anywhere from 54 hours (the hospital put pressure on my midwife to get me going and she broke my water or I may have went longer) to 8 full non stop days (thank goodness for patient, non-alarmist homebirth midwives!). Since I labor for days at a time, I don't always feel comfortable having help here every day all day, as I know they are getting tired and I seem to relax better alone and with Daniel's three jobs, I don't know where he'll be or how fast he can come once labor starts. So to keep the girls busy and happy is the goal. They really do quite well on a normal day playing together without much of my direction, but when birth comes into the mix of emotions, it makes things a little more unpredictable. My goal is to talk a lot about what will be happening, and what I will need from them in terms of a calm happy environment. We chatted about it after breakfast devotions this morning and they seem to understand and remember Claira's birth and how I need to relax and it's hard to relax if there's a lot of yelling or loud noises, I asked them if they remembered what kind of things I needed when I was in labor with Claira, Water, Snacks, Massage, Quiet, and how I will probably again need those kind of things during this birth. We decided to make a "When Mommy goes into Labor" chart with lists of things they can check on for me and do for me. With each item we drew a little picture to remind them what it said since they can't read the bigger words yet. I thought about putting a picture of our chart on here, but you really don't want to see how I draw. :0) Here are some of the ideas we put on there and not everything will be done, but these are things I asked the girls what needs done to clean this room? and they would tell me and I would write them down. They're all things they've done before, and all things we tend to need done in our house on a regular basis.
1. Check on mommy: Refill water, Bring snacks (We are going to go to the store ahead of time hopefully and get some easy things they can grab from the pantry for themselves and for me), Massage (They love to get lotion and rub feet. I didn't push this one I promise! But I am thankful for it!), and Quiet
2. Clean Bathrooms: (Hopefully they will be clean, but this is mostly a floor/counter check) Refill toilet paper if out (they fight over this job!), Pick up clothes off floor, pick up trash off floor and empty little trash cans into kitchen trash, pick up bathmat if it's still down and close the pretty bathroom curtain.
3. Clean Livingroom: Pick up floors (toys, trash, clothes) Vacuum (if they want to and if it's not going to bug mama, they have their own little dirt devil they love to use), Put two towels around the birth pool, and we put a little reminder picture not to play with any of the birth supplies that might be out at that point.
4. Clean Kitchen: Wipe Table and chairs, Sweep floor, put away any clean dishes from the dishwasher (minus glass and ceramic they know to leave for daddy to get), Put away any food that might be out, and wipe counters.
5. Clean Mommy's room: Pick up floor of any toys, trash, clothes, vacuum (if they want/if I don't mind), clean off tables of any of their toys or things they know shouldn't be there, Clean mirrors (only put because they love to clean mirrors with a vinegar solution I made safe for them that really works, again it's really not necessary, but it's all to keep them busy and happy, so if they want to fine, if not fine.)
6. Clean Girl's Room: Make beds, take toys to playroom, pick up clothes and trash, fold extra blankets, vacuum.
7. Clean Playroom: Put away toys, pick up floor, vacuum, fold any throw blankets.
8. Check mommy again: Water, snacks, music, massage, quiet
9. Play happily/keep Claira Happy: Play quietly, color, play dough, books, no yelling and running (don't want to have to go get stitches while in labor! :))
So this list may make me look like a crazy psycho military type mama, but this list is really more of a guide than a command as I am aware it's a lot and I'm aware my children are all 5 and under and may not get everything checked off. But like I said they helped me come up with the list, and it's all things they are capable of doing, and all things from their regular chore chart that they have been doing. It also helps daddy know what things he can check on too for me if he's home at the time. It's just nice to have things written down so If I'm at a point I don't feel like talking a lot, It's already laid out what can be done.
With the girls normal chore chart, we have it very similarly laid out. We have one chart with little hearts (pink ones for Danyelle and Purple ones for Natasha and soon we will make Claira a set as well) and each heart has a different chore on it (but both girls each have a full set of the same chores listed). It's all things that need done and I let them decide what to pick and see how many "heart badges" they can accumulate in a day. It's fine with me that they tend to jump on the ones they like best. Everything needs done by someone in this house and I require that they do a few (how many depends on day and circumstances), but which ones I let them pick and if they are quick to volunteer they get the perk of picking things they enjoy best. The hearts then add up as points we count at the end of the day and at the end of the month they can "spend their points" by picking out something from the Gospel for Asia website and buy something for kids that don't have as much as we do. We give them $0.10 a point so lets say they do an average of 5 chores a day for 30 days that's $15 they can spend that month. Right now GFA has bunny rabbits you can send to a family for $11 for a pair of two. Baby chicks for $11 a pair, Blankets, Mosquito nets, Bibles, etc are all are under $15. Or if they want to, we let them save up their "money" to get something bigger like a sheep. They get so excited that they are raising money for the kids that don't have as much as they do. And the fact they can work to buy real live chickens and bunnies to feed these kids is quite exciting to them and a great motivation! Natasha still wants to fly those kids over to our house and take care of them. Maybe someday she or our family will be able to adopt a child in need. I love that our girls hearts and eyes are being opened to more around them than just our individual life and circumstances as we try and cultivate a heart for missions and loving others now at their young ages.
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