Positive Parenting Solutions (PPS) sends me their newsletter every month, week, well, honestly I don't know how often they send it because sometimes I delete it before I even read the subject line. Today, I didn't delete it. The article was about the new 4 letter word....BUSY. Humph, certainly a word I use almost daily. I'm too busy, to make a healthy dinner for my family, I'm too busy to get to the gym, I'm too busy to blog effectively, I'm too busy to edit those photos...life with 2 little kids is just busy...or is it?
This is the PPS's question at hand:
How often do we let our "busy-ness" get in the way of what is important?
My answer: A LOT.
Although I like to think I have my priorities pretty well in line, there are definitely times that I choose to do something that completely whacks out my schedule. I'm a social person and am guilty of prioritizing social events (birthday parties, lunch with friends, play dates, etc) over doing things that I should be doing...like cleaning and grocery shopping. Of course this doesn't seem like a big deal at the time, and relationships, friendships, etc, should come before cleaning, right? I'm comfortable with that choice, but then a day or two later and I'm overwhelmed by the number of things that need to get done, but didn't because I went out to lunch with the girls, or hit that gymboree sale with the bestie instead of tackling my to-do list.
My New Year's Resolution this year was to slow down, to resist the urge to over schedule my life, and just like all New Year's Resolutions...I can't stick to it. It's like it's in my blood...I'm born to be busy. I keep saying that next month things should slow down, next month won't be so hectic, next month I'll make fitness more of a priority...of course, next month is always next month. I guess I just need to accept that this is the way things are. As kids get older life gets even more hectic.
I'm dealing. I'm trying to not sweat the small stuff, and I'm trying to keep my priorities in line...and I'm trying to keep my blog one of them.
I'll be back tomorrow kids...and that's a promise :)
8 comments:
I hear what you are saying! There are always so many things we COULD be doing when we are doing something else. Like, right now...I'm on the computer when I should be cleaning or running an errand... I love your advice to not sweat the small stuff. I am going to try to take that advice today!
Amen Sister! I hear ya... life gets so busy and sometimes it's important to just step back from it all. As kids get older, it seems to only get busier. At least from what I've seen. :)
Oh Carol this is something I think we all struggle with. There are so many responsibilities and I want so much to slow down and simplify my life. I want to be able to get rid of many stresses and just focus on raising my daughter top be super happy and healthy and to have a good balance in our lives. Like we talked about when I wrote my post about the expectations that are placed on our children today, I do not agree with many of the things expected at such an early age. I read some interesting articles about how teaching our children to learn to read so young can backfire and take away from other things that they should be working on at that age. However, we need to teach them because they need to stay at the same level of their peers. I just think that more learning should be done through exploration and art and music - not workbooks and dittos. Not to get sidetracked, you are right that we need to focus on what is important and try to slow down. I hope you are doing great my friend! Have a good day!
Mama Hen
It's so tough, finding that balance. You are strong and you'll get there.
It's difficult to find a good balance between all the demands of life, kids, house, fun, etc. I also would just like to slow down a bit, but I honestly think I'd get bored after a while.
Great post. I know the feeling all too often of going to lunch with friends and neglecting the laundry...LOL! But we do need to prioritize. Your girlfriend may not be there tomorrow, your dirty dishes will. LOL! It is been busy around here too. Things always get done, I can assure you of the that :)
I agree with a lot of what you said. I would say, however, that as long as you're comfortable with how your house is, how much laundry you have left to do, then socializing should be at the top of the list. With kids, it's so important to have them interacting with people that if it requires you to really crack down on cleaning after they go to bed every once in a while, then so be it.
The mess will still be there later, their childhood won't.
Girl you know I am right there with you. Obviously...that is why I am reading this post days after it was posted. :-) I also prioritize social events over cleaning, etc. Cleaning is no fun, but birthday parties are! I do need to try to put "healthier meals" higher on my list, though, so my kids don't end up with high cholesterol before they're teenagers. ;-)
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