The beauty of extra hands

As I mentioned yesterday, September is one of the three times a year my parents visit us in Cincinnati. They normally come in March for Claire's birthday, September for Ben & Sarah's birthdays and then every other December for Christmas.

I have gotten into the habit of arranging my business trips around when they come. So on Sunday I will get on a plane and head to Europe for a week. I do the same thing in March but that time do Asia and Europe. It is wonderful for Arnie to have extra hands around to help, particularly with preparing dinner and getting the kids down. It's not that he can't do it alone, but we have found after 2 days by yourself, the stress begins to build. This way Grandma and Grandpa get quality time with the kids, I am not distracted on my trip wondering how Arnie is doing and Arnie isn't too stressed by the time I return.

Once you have the extra hands in your home be sure to utilize them. We dropped off our van to have body work done yesterday because we have my parents car this week, so we weren't down a car which would require major scheduling, etc. My dad met me at the dealer last night and will go with me to pick it up. I also made the kids doctors appointments for their annual visit while my parents are here, so we are not rushing home to get the last appointment. An oil change is on the list as well as other things around the house that require someone to be home.

I came up with a new thing this week. My mom is going into Ben's class to volunteer. I work full-time so volunteering during the day is very hard. I think this is really important and hopefully can find time to do it in the future. But in the meantime, my mom is going in to help this week. This lets her see Ben's school and meet his teacher and shows our commitment to the class, even though Arnie and my schedules don't allow us personally to be there. I will make the PTA meeting tonight at 7, but the day was just impossible this week.

So as my book says in one of the tips "don't be afraid to ask for help" and "call in support when you travel"...we are putting these to use this week (and many more which I will share later) and I encourage you to so do too.