I’m currently mid-way through my two-week summer holiday.

Last week, we went spent a relaxing week in Collingwood with my parents and my aunt and had a wonderful week full of swimming, birthdays, good food, wine and new adventures.

So in parent-speak? Fun, but tiring.

This was our second year going to Collingwood. Last year I went right back to work afterwards. This year? I put the girls in daycare and took a second week off for myself.

And MAN! I’ve been busy.

The one thing I never considered pre marriage, home ownership, career and kids was all the minutiae involved in, well, everything.

Keeping everyone fed and clothed, making sure homework is done, keeping the house clean(ish), making daycare pick-up on time, making sure all the school forms are filled-out, making sure the kids have down-time and enriching and fun activities like swimming lessons and skating, making time for our marriage, making time for friends, making time for me …

It’s hectic even before you add in the personal touches. Every family has them. Here’s some of ours:

Our eldest is struggling with reading and math, our youngest went through 4-months where she refused to sleep, I’ve changed jobs twice in the last year while I tried to find the one that would work both for ME and this life stage, my husband worked a lot of late shift and overtime this year which leaves both of us stressed and tired, and our bathtub was leaking into our basement for 10 months with multiple company visits to try and fix it before we finally replaced it (all requiring time off work) .

I write a lot here about making it all work with kids, marriage and career – and generally it does.

But it’s sort of an exercise in this:

Certain things – and good habits – fall to the side. And over time the thought of tackling them becomes overwhelming.

So that brings us to my week off!

Twenty-something me would have laughed at thirty-something me. Summer vacations then were spent touring Europe.

But now? Here’s the rundown of my week:

Sunday: Signed up for Weight Watchers again. I then found some new recipes to try online and also spent a good four hours organizing 2-years-worth of photos to bring to printing for placement in albums so our entire life doesn’t simply exist online. I then put in a solid 30 minutes of reading with my eldest before bed. She started (slowly) working her way through this classic (she goes to French school – dad’s Francophone):

Monday: Up bright and early for a dental appointment! Then off to the mall to a) print 250ish photos, b) talk to cell-phone stores about buying a new phone (because my IPhone 4 is, well, an IPhone 4 and the speaker no longer works and it’s no longer able to support various apps), c) buy new sandals d) buy new speakers for the computer e) buy groceries f) made soup, chick pea salad and a veggie dip to last over next few days with Weight Watchers g) went and signed the girls up for Kumon to work on math (for my eldest, but we’re there anyway so the youngest can learn too) h) signed the eldest up for TD Summer Reading Club online and actually spent a good hour on the site reading e-books in French and watching Radio-Canada Jeunesse because the computer now has working speakers.

Tuesday: Deep house cleaning and organizing begins! Sorting clothes, rearranging storage room, cleaning kitchen and bathroom, cleaning the girls rooms, and starting on the desk. That all took about four hours.

Here’s what I had to show for it:

Then, after a break, it was off to the mall to pick up the photo prints from yesterday, to Value Village to donate the clothes and toys, the Beer Store to return empties, and then to check out a desk for my 6-year-old’s room that was on sale and matches her bedroom set.

Tuesday ended on a bit of a “tough love” note as I did reading with my eldest and didn’t let her squirm or cry her way out of it. I felt terrible, but I hope it helps.

Wednesday: Cleaning continued! Desk, dining room hutch, master bedroom and front closet sorting. I also confirmed dimensions and purchase the desk (delivery in August!) and purchased a bouncy castle for my 4-year-old’s upcoming birthday (because it was basically the same price as renting one and I figure it will keep them outside and active). Then it was off to the gym for a run before picking up the girls from daycare. As for my tough love theory? I think maybe it worked because reading tonight bordered on pleasant. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.

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That’s the week so far. In case you think I’m all work and no play, I have a pedicure booked tomorrow morning before I carry on with the housecleaning. I also have a contact for a housecleaning service because, well, I think some help with maintenance might avoid things hitting the “overwhelming” stage in future.

So while I wouldn’t say my week has been exactly this:

I’m pretty pleased with it so far.

How’s your summer going? Let me know!

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Linking up for the first time with the #Momsterlink this week.

I’ve meant to a few times, but haven’t been in a posting mood come this stage of the week.

Do surf about and have a look at what others are sharing.