Get Your Act Together
Do you ever feel like you just CAN'T get your act together? The house is *still* a mess. The four bushels of clothes to fold and put away are staring you down. Your body is screaming at you because you haven't done anything even remotely close to exercise in two months. You just want to hide from your kids, watch an entire season of Friends, and go to the bathroom alone. Oh, and you haven't showered in days. Do you feel me?
I started this year with gusto and goals. I composed many lists, things to accomplish, an everything to do list, a blog topic list, and even a "great ideas" list. I subscribed to a blog about decluttering. I was even working on an organizational wonder, my "homemaking" binder, which I promise is not as ridiculous as it sounds. It is meant to be one spot to have meal plans, family calendars, to do lists, idea scribbles, and blog jottings. How do you think that is working out for me? Is my life or even my house organized yet? Not so much and no. Apparently you have to exert energy to battle entropy. (For you non nerds out there, entropy is disorder.) And apparently, I'm short on energy to exert.
What's the problem? Am I eating wrong, not sleeping enough, and do I have small children that demand so much of me that I feel like I don't get time for myself? Probably, definitely, and absolutely. Do I not have enough adult conversations in a day and spend way too much time on the Internet and social media? Very probable. Am I not spending adequate time with God? Likely. Ouch. I feel like a lot has been changing and moving in my life, a lot of great things that I have to thank God for, and yet here I am, feeling extremely disheveled and not ready to take on and succeed at all these new challenges.
In short, I feel as though I have failed... already. I mean, it's only February 14, Valentine's Day, practically one of the first holidays of the year, and I'm already waving the white flag and feeling like a failure. Maybe it's just me slogging through this thing called motherhood. It's easy to feel like I can't get ahead when I'm spending day in and day out with two little munchkins. They are wonderful, they are gorgeous, they are lively, and they wear me out. I feel like for every step I take to get something done in my personal conquests, I am missing out on moments with them or ignoring them. To write a blog, I have to stay up until the middle of the night, and I give up sleep and I'm a grumpy mean momma in the morning. To clean the house, I have to plop them in front of a movie or TV show, so as not to have two mini tornadoes behind me as I clean. I feel like I can't strike that happy balance...
Maybe I just need an au pair? Or a mother's helper? Or to quit. Quit feeling like I should go to the gym. Quit feeling like I should get another blog written this week. Quit feeling guilty that I should have gotten more things done on my to do list. Quit feeling like I should have read my bible already today. Each time I put these feelings of what I "should" do on my self, it seems as though I'm setting myself up for failure. So maybe to not feel like a failure, I just need to quit. I really don't know the answer. I don't have a nice tidy paragraph to let everyone in on my secret to overcoming this obstacle in my life. I simply don't know how to feel as though I have got my act together. Is there a secret? Or do you just take it one day at a time and stop beating yourself up when you don't get x, y, and z done? That would probably be a good start for me, but I want to hear how you do it!
What helps you get your act together? How do you get it all done? Or don't you? Tell me your secrets to doing this motherhood thing!
I started this year with gusto and goals. I composed many lists, things to accomplish, an everything to do list, a blog topic list, and even a "great ideas" list. I subscribed to a blog about decluttering. I was even working on an organizational wonder, my "homemaking" binder, which I promise is not as ridiculous as it sounds. It is meant to be one spot to have meal plans, family calendars, to do lists, idea scribbles, and blog jottings. How do you think that is working out for me? Is my life or even my house organized yet? Not so much and no. Apparently you have to exert energy to battle entropy. (For you non nerds out there, entropy is disorder.) And apparently, I'm short on energy to exert.
What's the problem? Am I eating wrong, not sleeping enough, and do I have small children that demand so much of me that I feel like I don't get time for myself? Probably, definitely, and absolutely. Do I not have enough adult conversations in a day and spend way too much time on the Internet and social media? Very probable. Am I not spending adequate time with God? Likely. Ouch. I feel like a lot has been changing and moving in my life, a lot of great things that I have to thank God for, and yet here I am, feeling extremely disheveled and not ready to take on and succeed at all these new challenges.
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| My 3.5 yr old spitfire, Isaiah |
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| Isaiah, 3.5 yo and Annika, 15 months |
Maybe I just need an au pair? Or a mother's helper? Or to quit. Quit feeling like I should go to the gym. Quit feeling like I should get another blog written this week. Quit feeling guilty that I should have gotten more things done on my to do list. Quit feeling like I should have read my bible already today. Each time I put these feelings of what I "should" do on my self, it seems as though I'm setting myself up for failure. So maybe to not feel like a failure, I just need to quit. I really don't know the answer. I don't have a nice tidy paragraph to let everyone in on my secret to overcoming this obstacle in my life. I simply don't know how to feel as though I have got my act together. Is there a secret? Or do you just take it one day at a time and stop beating yourself up when you don't get x, y, and z done? That would probably be a good start for me, but I want to hear how you do it!
What helps you get your act together? How do you get it all done? Or don't you? Tell me your secrets to doing this motherhood thing!
My husband tells me not to be so hard on myself. He isn't so picky about the apartment (thankfully not a full house yet) is cleaned weekly (gross, I know!), he's ok with laundry not being folded and put away asap but requests the full basket of clean clothes not be in our bedroom til put away (we have a small room where a queen bed takes up 99% of the room)...I feel bad we can't take that extravagant vacation b/c I'm staying home with our peanut - he tells me not to worry. I can't help it. My goal daily is to play with my baby, teach her things, relax, do SOME housework if possible, do my parttime job if possible (thankful for a flexible boss...phew - she's that desperate), and have dinner ready by the time hubby is home. Sometimes I don't get a thing done until its time to start dinner and I bust through the mess in the kitchen and pick things up to make it look "organized". There are days that I nap when she does....still. My husband even told me to nap if needbe (she's still not sleeping all night since she had the flu...*yawn*).
ReplyDeleteSo...there's my "secret"...oh and I go up to Thiel with my parents to walk a few days a week but then most my day is gone by the time I get home...but its nice to get out of the house. Can't wait for warm weather to get fresh air and not have 15 layers on my baby! :(
My hubs is super sweet about the house, the kids, the laundry, and more! Which I am super thankful for. I think I would go nuts if he insisted on a perfect house. I want the house clean and neat for me, so I can think straight... So I guess I'm blessed that my hubs doesn't care! :) I think you are right on about the walking with your parents. I'd probably feel better with regular exercise and having my parents around! Now if I can just get them to move to Pgh... LOL!
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