I am a perfectionist. I am a little selfish. I am a planner. I am an organizer. I am prideful. I am bossy. I am demanding.
None of these things make for a happy mom.
The good news is . . . they can change, soften, or be altered . . . with time.
When my oldest was a baby I would get so frustrated when I couldn't do a task start to finish with no interruptions. Especially when it came to cleaning . . . one of my favorite hobbies.
Things have changed. Perhaps it is partly out of necessity, but I think it also has to do with that word I don't like very much. That one. You know it. The one that I am not very good at and hate thinking about it because it makes me feel guilty . . . yep that one . . . priorities.
I think I am getting better at this word . . . so much better in fact that it isn't even a swear word anymore!
I used to have to wash, dry, fold, and put away the entire week's laundry in one day. Now I am happy to have it all washed and dried in a day and am still okay with having to do a couple of other random loads throughout the week.
I used to have to be able to clean my entire house top to bottom and side to side once a week AND finish it all before lunch! Now I am happy to vacuum once a week, a clean a bathroom here a bathroom there, dust here and dust there, mop here and mop there . . . whenever I find the time. How liberating!
I used to have to be able to sit the kids to an activity and start and complete dinner without interruption. This never happened, but before I would get frustrated when I was interrupted. Now I am happy to have it "going" and stop and play with the kids for a minute in between steps.
I used to want to get all my grocery shopping done in one trip each week. Now I am happy if the kids are somewhat happy during our several trips. Instead of hurrying, we try to have a little fun.
I used to have to sit down and complete all my bills, blog posts, phone calls, and emails during nap time. Now I am happy just to complete the necessities.
It is nice to keep your priorities straight. I like it. I am much happier . . . and so are my kids.
I LOVE this post because as you know we are SO much a like, and I have been threw the same exact struggle! I just started giving up on having a meal at a decent time and it was ready when it was ready! But, I am getting better at that now. Unfortunately this last year with our fifth child I have had to come to accept that our laundry will NEVER be done! Sure, there's a day, maybe two if I'm lucky where I don't have any loads to put through, but there are always baskets to fold. Our work is never done! :)
ReplyDeleteLOVE this post Heidi! I can so relate as you probably remember how much alike we discovered we were in our college days. It's funny though that through time and more kids those things just become less important and it's ok!! You are such a great mom and I love how much you play with your kids and make life so fun for them!
ReplyDeleteUm, that sounds like me. And not because I have my priorities straight... I just hate cleaning and I'm lazy. haha Pregnancy makes me even more weary of chores. You don't want to know how long the several loads of clean laundry have been sitting in baskets in my room...
ReplyDelete