What's working, what's not

Aaages ago I wrote this post about what was working for us and what wasn't and I promised myself I'd revisit it.

It was interesting re-reading it because my worries about J's eating (she now insists on being Joanna, not JoJo!) are largely resolved, partly because of her coeliac diagnosis - which happened about 2 months after I wrote that post. On the other hand I am going OUT OF MY MIND with X's eating. We are currently giving him gluten so that we can get him properly tested for CD ... I'm almost hoping he has it because if it does it might provide an easy solution to some of his eating / mood issues. Bad mother alert!

So...

What's working:

* I kind of hate to be part of the cleaning cult, but I've signed up for the Flylady emails and even though I don't do alot of it, the basic stuff is SO helpful for me.
* I'm trying to be more realistic about what I can actually manage in a week (ie not much!).
* Bizarrely, I find that overall it's a good thing that I have to drop J off and pick her up at school each day. I often have to wake M up for the car trip which isn't fun, but it give the day a bit more shape. I'd really love to be a free and easy no routines person, but I'm just so not.
* J being around to help with the kids' bedtime. This is so much better than when he was working.
Unfortunately that's kind of the end of what working at the moment - things haven't been the easiest lately!

What's not:

* X waking up TOO EARLY every day. He wakes up really hungry so won't go back to sleep and is too irresponsible to be up and about without an adult. Much as I don't want to be up at the crack of dawn, I don't have the heart to make a boy crying for food stay in his bedroom.
* The older 2 kids waking up at night. Most nights one or the other is awake at least once, which is a bit much given that I'm already up to M twice at the moment. Also, they often wake her up. Arghhh!
* Sleep deprivation (me). Can't imagine why.
* J working insanely incredibly hard.
* Too much time wasted on computer (me).
* Not being able to get to the physio (hello, joint pain my old friend)
* Not being able to get any exercise (J leaves too early for me to go for a walk before he leaves and X is too heavy for me to push in the pram).

Ok there's more but I'll leave it there before I get too sorry for myself!

What's working, what's not

Working:
* I'm trying to get the kitchen (and lounge if I'm feeling up to it) cleaned up and dinner semi-prepared at lunchtime. Before (this is the crucial bit!) getting to the computer. Having dinner half made makes a big difference when J isn't getting home till 6:40.
* X being weaned... not that I can go back now (it's been a week and a half), but it's good to know he's ok with it :)
* My joint is finally finallystarting to feel better. I've been in alot of pain more or less since I got pregnant with JJ, and have just found a great physio for pregnancy related problems. So far so good. I'm still far from perfect but it's great just to be making progress.
*Being pretty strict with myself about not having the computer on / doing woolly stuff when the kids are awake.

Not working:
* JJ's complete inability to eat independantly. I feel like I nag her constantly about eating and I hate it.
* Snacks for kids and me - they're eating far too many biscuits, but I can't think of anything else that a) they'll eat (quickly enough) and b) will pack enough of an energy punch to stop their sudden episodes of low blood sugar induced poor behaviour / emotional over-reactions. If you have any suggestions I'll all ears (or in this case eyes!).

I'll come back to this list in awhile and see if things have improved!