Except, no. I take that back. No apologies. Women have a bad habit of making these "Sorry, yada yada yada..." statements, right? Well, I'm going to banish these from my vernacular now.
Here are 5 things that make me a darn good, and happier, Mom:
1.) Not adhering to a strict schedule. The days here on Earth are pretty well regimented to begin with, no? The sun rises, we get up, eat three meals, the sun sets, we go to sleep. It's an awesome day when these things happen in order. I don't try to set the bar too high but it's not because I don't like a plan and routine, it's just that I'm actually so type A that if I were to schedule the day out for my little humans and then for some reason they didn't follow that schedule?!!! Then I would probably lose my ever-loving mind. My children get the things they need when they need them and it tends to fall around the same time each day anyway, I've just learned not to force it. Therefore, winging it makes me a good Mom.
2.) Trying to say Yes more in a day than I say No. I've never had a problem saying No. I probably say it too often. So each day, I try to be attentive to the Yes/No ratio coming out of me ol' pie hole. For example, my son always asks, "Mama, wanna play on the floor now?" (usually when sister is screaming). I always try to say Yes no matter how crazy the day has gotten. And when I have to say "not right now," boy, does it tug at my heart strings! Another cookie? Yes! (For Q and myself, don't mind if I do!!) Watch this movie for the umpteenth time? Yes! Read that same book again? Yes! Don't worry, my kids will get to know No in their lives too because I think that's important. The real world is full of big fat No Nos. That's why it's good to say Yessssss while you still can.
3.) Finding time to be creative. Whether it's once a day or once a week. Whether it's with my kids or without. Whether it's carving out an 'all-time favorites' on a strategically placed bookshelf my husband designed for me so that it's the last thing I see before I turn off the light at night or just painting with my son. Or maybe it's just taking time to write a little blog post. These are the little things that inspire me and make me happy, which then trickles down to the little ones.
4.) Building quiet time into our mornings. There's nothing worse, for me, than feeling rushed. And nothing worse than repeatedly telling your toddler to hurry up and eat breakfast because we have to do a, b, and c. Seriously, it takes my son a million years to eat breakfast (I don't know how I'm gonna get him to preschool on time next year!). But instead of getting frustrated now I'm just rolling with it because the first thing my daughter likes to do after she wakes up is nap, which is awesome! So we're taking some cues from her and loving it.
5.) Not sleeping when the babies sleep. I know, I know! But I just can't feel like a normal person unless I get something accomplished while they are sleeping. Sometimes it's just a shower or getting through that pile of New Yorker's. But sometimes it's cleaning the kitchen! All these things actually give me a little energy and refresh me for when the kiddos wake up. If I tried to nap, I would just be drowsy and annoyed by the time they woke up. Another important part of this is staying up after I put them in bed, which is never over with until like 9pm!! I look forward to this time spent talking with my husband and just hanging out together, watching Netflix or catching up on our DVR...it gives me some much needed support and perspective as a Mom and as Molly.
No comments:
Post a Comment