Finding Life Balance
Do you feel like you’re being pulled in 10 different directions at once? Welcome to parenthood. I don’t know how other women do it, but I feel like I’m making this up as I go along.
Trying to find the right balance between raising my two kids, working, cleaning house, having a relationship with my husband, finding alone time and staying sane is impossible. I really think it is. Impossible.
Granted, it’s a juggling act, this I knew. But, damn. I’ve tried doing things in small amounts, like being sure to clean the kitchen after breakfast, actually starting one load of laundry before leaving for the playground or squeezing work in after my daughter’s bed time.
You know what that results in? Being burned out. Then it’s non-stop responsibility. And, invariably, I forget about the wash and a few days later I’m washing it again, soaking it this time to because it’s sat there wet for days on end. URGH.
Here’s one method that I’ve found actually helps: making a distinction between what’s urgent and what’s important. It means putting out fires takes precedence over everything, to the detriment of your organized to-do list. It means you become a crazy, anxiety ridden stress ball. It means you don’t ever feel like you’ve accomplished anything, just that you’ve managed to not lose it.
Urgent is an exploding diaper, kissing a bobo after your toddler takes a spill, cleaning off the kitchen counters so you can have room to cook dinner.
Important is playing ring around the rosie with your toddler, making time for friends (old AND new), having a quiet dinner with your spouse.
Sometimes it’s difficult to tell the difference. But they are different. And, as my favorite professor used to say, “that’s a difference that makes a difference.”
Related posts:
Pulled In 10 Different Directions At Once?
Screaming is the New Spanking
Hitting Kids – Is It Ever OK?
photo credit: Ana Santos via Flickr
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