For those of you who know me well, you may be wondering
where my NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS post went?
I do love coming up with new year’s resolutions. Complete with graphs and charts and schedules. For those of you who know me extremely well,
you know the past week has been a bit of a downer.
The kids health seems to be restored, but it’s been 2 steps
forward and one step back with mine. It
feels like days on end that my whole head and face have felt like they might
explode, my body sluggish, my brain foggy and my spirits gloomy. Dave put in full work days to catch up on
marking all last week....so it’s been a lot of sittin’ around the house with
the kids. Which when you have a horrible headache and feel exhausted is a challenging
day with preschoolers and a new baby! On top of that, it’s been in the negative 20s
with wind chill, and so getting out for some fresh air hasn’t been happening
either. I’m sure if I could just have 2
full days to lay in bed and sleep I could beat this thing...but mama’s don’t
get days off. One of the things I do
miss about non-kid life, getting to rest when you’re sick! Katie was real sick last week with a vicious ear infection and has spent the past week laying low. I slightly envied her days of sleeping, being drugged up, and having 2 or 3 baths a day! lol!
However- Dave and I got out for a few hours on Saturday
night as we had a babysitter tackle all 3 kids and their bedtimes for us. We also all got out to church on Sunday and
Dave took the whole day off to hang out with us. I woke up this morning feeling a good 3 steps
ahead, with a brighter outlook and I hope the worst is behind. Dave is
back to work today, and it feels healthy.
The holidays felt rather robbed by illness.
So, it’s not that I didn’t make any new years
resolutions. I sort of did. I sort of made some that were about NOT
making some....hmmm...this sounds confusing. Well, in my foggy blue state last week, I
decided that I had to let some things go.
With children occupying my attention from 5:30 AM to 9 PM most nights
(and then a few times through the night), I haven’t been able to stay as on top
of the housework...and with my low energy level, I haven’t given the kids as
much structure or time outside of the house as usual. As a person who likes to stay busy and organized
and the kids entertained, it was kind of nice to kick back and let go of the
routine a bit. I decided maybe my resolution should be about having no expectations or routine for the year. However- I found by the
end of the week, that it was sort of draining not to work as hard as usual, and the messy house was wearing on me. I still want to get my housework done, and get
the kids out for lots of fun and simple outings. But- something needs to change to make this
happen.
SO! In a clearer state, my new years resolutions are more about simplifying life
I guess. My goals are about clearing
out the clutter to make time for the more important things in life. I am reading a book called, “Almost Amish”
that covers some of the Amish principles, and how we can embrace them in our
own ways. And I’ve been a bit
challenged, and a bit convicted.
I have started trying to simplify the physical clutter. I won’t need to spend as much time cleaning
and doing laundry and picking up after the kids, if there is less around to
make messes of. This process will take
a while, but I did do an initial purge after the holidays of junky stuff, and
packed away a bunch of the kids toys. I
find when they have less out to choose from to play with- they actually play
more with the toys available, and are better at putting them away. I still have a long ways to go...but am
slowly looking through piles and have this 30 day de-clutter guide that I am
picking away at. (it will probably be
more like a 30 week one for me!)
I have also tried to identify activity clutter in my life. And I feel like technology is the main
one. I don’t have a phone I’m hooked on,
and I don’t watch that much tv...but I do have this incessant need to check my
email and facebook about every few hours of the day. Sometimes I get puttering around on the
internet, and it can suck up my time.
So, I’ve decided to limit my computer check-ins to 5 mins max, once in
the morning, once in the afternoon, and once in the evening. Aside from the blog or sending an important
email, I want to be spending my time WITH people. Face to Face with my kids, visits to friends,
that sort of thing. I want to be the
kind of house, where people feel like they can just stop in to say hello. If you are in my life, and in Ottawa, DO THIS! I am
not bashing social media. For me, this
is a great way to stay connected with my dear family that do not live in the
area. It’s also real nice as a mom who
does get stuck inside the house on days where Dave needs the van and it’s
negative 27 out... to feel a bit connected to the world. But! I want to be a moving, breathing part of
the real world...not only the cloud!
With this technology simplification idea... I have decided not to watch
any TV for a few months...see how that goes, AND limit Jesse and Janna to 30
minutes a day while I make dinner or do something important.
So...these are my first 2 steps in becoming Amish. JUST
KIDDING! These are my first two steps over the next few months that I’m hoping
will make life feel a bit more relaxed and clear up a tiny bit of time. My new years resolutions you might
say. Subtracting, so that I might ADD.
Oooo...that was deepJ
That’s all for now, the kids won’t be napping for too much
longer, so I should be on my way. I
still plan on blogging over the next few months, but I imagine my entries will
be a bit more spaced out OR brief than the past few months. So, stay tuned, thanks so much for reading! I’m
out.
Oh! And I should include one picture. I never thought I'd be the mom who made my kids wear matching outfits. But, SANTA, brought these for Christmas, and they were too cute, not to put Janna and Robyn in! *Please imagine them with clean faces all looking nicely at the camera!*
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