Settling In

We are starting to settle in after 2 weeks of family help, including 1 1/2 weeks of my husband being home. Oddly enough, the transition has been very easy. The kids are back to playing with each other the majority of the time and the baby once again has free reign. We have headed to 'Strong Start' 2 mornings this week. I am back to cooking all the meals and am happy to be doing it. The hardest part has been my transitioning to my husband's new work schedule. Every other week he works late 2 days a week. This means that I really need to pace myself a lot better. I need to slow down in the morning, which is normally my hustle and bustle time to get things done, tidied, cleaned up. This is the time that I have the most energy. My afternoons in the past were spent more with an outing, reading books, craft, puzzles. Now, when 6:30pm rolls along, I need to keep going and get all the kids ready for bed and in to bed by myself those 2 days. It really shouldn't be that hard, it is only 1/2 hour from when my husband gets home to when the kids go to bed. But, that 1/2 hour seems to make a huge difference. Oh and not to mention that on those 2 nights I know have to clean up the house and kitchen on my own. After just 2 days of this new schedule, I am realizing that pacing is going to have to be key. I definitely can't leave any big chores for those days.