This year was certainly a challenge to get ready for the holidays, with Emma being sick, then I got sick and just an overall stressed out couple of months. And just like every other year, I have convinced myself that next year will be different. Christmas cards will be ordered and mailed weeks before Christmas, presents will be purchased and wrapped in November, cookies will be baked and frozen weeks in advance. Ummm....yeah right. If I can't do it with one child this year, how in the world am I going to do it, and do it better next year with two?!
I am going to do it by simplifying.
Simplifying will be my one and only New Year's resolution for 2011.
Now, how this is exactly going to be done is still to be determined. :) Chaos stresses me out. Disorganization stresses me out. Having said that, I have recently learned, what I think will be a strong life lesson, in that it is my choice to be stressed or not stressed in the majority of situations. So in 2011, as I simplify my life, I am going to do a better job as choosing my own response to situations. Granted, it's unrealistic to say that I will never be stressed out in 2011. But my main goal is to at least reduce or minimize the amount of stress I will have. I will inevitably be stressed about my job, or when Emma or Jackson is sick, but I will not be stressed out about little things, like Christmas cards, and planning birthday parties and what we are going to have for dinner next Tuesday because Emma has tumblee bees and I have a meeting that goes until 5:00PM and we have to get a birthday card and milk on the way home. Just like Tsh from Simple Mom says in her blog about how stress is a choice.
"Stress isn’t happening to me, it’s a reaction to a situation I’m allowing."
Take that to the bank and cash it. :) Now like I said before, who knows exactly how this simplifying is actually going to happen, but my first step, and it's a doozy, is going to be me working on giving myself permission to be human. Being a mom is hard. So starting in 2011, I am going to give myself permission to do things like let our kids be kids, let a mess wait until tomorrow, ask for help more, sleep in and not feel guilty even though I am a working mom and I hire a babysitter so I can catch a break. When I think back over 2010, the times that I was the happiest, was when life was simple.
Like when Emma would fall asleep and snuggle with Mommy...
...or when it was time for a bottle, which forced us to step away from life and take a break, even if it was just for a few minutes...
...or when we were snowed in, and the only thing we HAD to do that day was play in the snow...
...or when it was naked time after a bath (giggle)...
...or when it was all about stealing kisses during a family photo-shoot...
...or when it was doing something for someone we love and lost, with the people that we love.
2011 = Simplify
2011 = Simplify
I think the idea of simplification is fantastic! I didn't figure that life lesson out until after Robert was born and realized that my super powers don't work with three kids. Now simplification is my middle name, or at least most of the time. There will always be laundry, dirty dishes, and chaos, but you won't always have little Emma and Jackson. They are what is most improtant right now and believe me they will grow up faster than you can imagine. When they are grown, they won't remember that on occasion the dishes were left in the sink or that the laundry would spill out of the hamper. They'll remember the night that mom let them not take a bath and snuggle up on the couch together to watch The Polar Express. :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your resolution and remember to breathe!
Love You!