Vowing to slow down

We have had an incredibly busy week.  It has been a fun week filled with adventures.  I was with my boys all week - there were no playdates at other people's houses.  We ventured to a birthday party, the zoo, ECFE classes, ski lessons, errands, played outside, and hung out with friends.  We had friends over to play and we watched a friend who needed care because their daycare closed down for the day.  Charley did go to preschool two mornings this week -but other than that we were go-go-going as a family.  We got Chipotle take out for dinner TWICE this week...which is more eating out than we did the entire month of January!  The laundry got to be out of control.  I never got to sit down with Charley and play a game or do any 'mama' school.

Many evenings when Ed arrived home he could tell I was 'done' and I think I said a couple times that I felt stressed...my heart was racing and I just didn't know why because there really wasn't anything stressful going on.   And he tipped his head and made the point, "You do it to yourself.  You have a choice."

I do this to myself every once in awhile...and while we are participating in a week of crazy commitments we enjoy it.  But as soon as the day has settled down and I take a moment to reflect, I feel very uneasy about the choices I made.  Were we go go going to much that we lost some of that quiet time to just be?

  I LOVE going on adventures with my boys.  When we are out and about - even sitting in the lobby at the car shop waiting for our car to get an oil change - I sometimes feel more engaged and present with my boys because I am not at home surrounded with the list of chores that could be done today.  So getting out with them is good.  But the every morning getting out of the house in a rush can be too much. 

Daily friend play dates can start to be too much too.  Henry idolizes his brother and when there is someone else here all the time taking him away I can see the impact.  Charley gets overwhelmed with too much fun going on - even though he LOVES it.

So next week I am vowing to slow down.  To make the quiet and relaxed atmosphere of our home the priority.  I will find more balance with playdates, outings, errands, and classes.  I will try and say yes to what is healthy for our family and no to the stuff that doesn't give us happy balance.

Spring is around the corner and with it comes even more possibilities for outside fun.  More energy will be burned.  And in some ways things slow down because a simple park visit can offer a chance to run, play, and catch up with friends.  So before the green grass appears and the massive snow piles melt away, I want to get a handle on what is a priority...because these days of being home with my two little guys are going so fast and I don't want to miss them because I am over committing us. 

I don't want to miss out on curling up with books, a good game of Sorry, building block towers, sorting match box cars by color, building forts, baking cookies, and stumbling around outside exploring nature...and this week we missed out on a lot of that because we were so busy.

Note:  All the busy that we were involved in was so important and fun...it just needed to be spread out a bit...we didn't need to do so much each day!   

Two of my favorite blogs these days are SimpleMom.net and Simplekid.net.  Both remind me daily to slow down and enjoy life.  These two posts really hit home this week. 

The first on Simple Mom is titled Fighting the Tyranny of the Urgent Home. 

The second is from Simple Kid and is called Slowing Down:  Taking the Time to Make Some Time.


I hope as your week winds down you can say you felt fulfilled by the choices you made.  Letting the dishes pile up so you could go outside with your little ones and let the sun warm your face was worth it.  Not folding the laundry immediately because there was a tinker toy ship to build was worth it.  Letting the piles of paper get a little high because you called a friend and had a good chat was worth it.  Having your husband pick up dinner so you could put your feet up and listen to your boys play was worth it.

Make your weekend worth it.....Whether it is go go going or relaxed and cozy at home in your pjs.


How do you slow life down when it gets too be too much?