Do you ever feel completely overwhelmed by your to do lists? Do you feel that when you accomplish one thing, three more things come up to take its place? Good lord, I feel like this often. Especially when my kids are at home with me ALL. WEEK. LONG.
Here’s the way I see it going in my head: We have no where to be and nothing to do this week! I’m going to get so much done! Today, I’ll clean and organize the kids’ rooms and declutter the playroom. Then, I’ll weed and fertilize my garden and cook a healthy well-balanced meal for my family. There will be plenty of time for baths and we’ll end the day reading and snuggling together.
Brutal Reality: It’s 6 o’clock and my only accomplishments are that I’ve managed to feed my children and no one has died….yet. Baby N won’t let me put her down, so organizing and decluttering will have to wait. I did spend a few minutes in the garden, but only to hide in it when my children wouldn’t stop whining. I just fed them bowls of peanut butter and pretzels for dinner and my plan is to let them sit in front of the TV until it’s time for bed.
When B was a newborn and I was crying to my mom about feeling like a failure for never getting anything done, she gave me some really helpful advice. She told me to write down all of the things I had done that day, no matter how small. If that day the list read: kept the baby fed and drank wine, that was enough. It’s easy to get hung up on all the things we haven’t done. You can feel the stress building to a point where you almost don’t know where to start. When I started turning my focus to the things I had accomplished each day, I could feel a major shift in my stress level. Yes, I still had a ton of things to do, but it helped me to note that I wasn’t the total slacker doofus I’d thought I was.
Nobody’s perfect and we just can’t do it all. I know there are images everywhere trying to tell us that it’s possible. We’ve all seen those parents that just make it look so easy, whether in real life, on Facebook or on television. The truth is: They’re all full of shit. I’m just going to keep doing the best I can day after day and you should too! Keep in mind that some days our best won’t be that great, and that’s ok. Now I’m going to go give myself a hug, and I suggest you do the same!
🙂 Erin