Stop. Take Note. Make necessary Changes...Again.

Okay, I'll admit it, I am am still making mistakes in life, and thankfully, I am also still learning from them.

This past summer was a tough one for me. For the first time in my life I felt lost, out of character, unhappy, and mostly HOT. (Have I mentioned once or twice now how much I hate the ridiculous heat here in Birmingham?). Plus, there was that tremendous lack of structure in our lives, which was fun and all for like the first THREE days maybe. So, with the onset of the school year suddenly offering me the chance to jump back on the routine wagon, I quickly stood up again, dusted myself off and threw myself back into the world again-full speed ahead.

I signed up for this. I Joined that. I was practically the first to raise my hand at every volunteer opportunity.

“Sure, no problem!” I’d say. “I’d love to tackle that one!”

Kindergarten room mom? Bring it on!

Help out with a fundraising event for a local women’s shelter? Are you kidding me, how could I possibly say no?

Direct a holiday floral decorating event at church? Why not?!

Manage the class booth for the Fall Fun Festival at Nate’s school. You bet.

Write 25 articles a month to begin paying off my looming student loans. No choice, but I’m still excited about it!

Sign up to help out with almost every party at Juliana’s Preschool? Of course!!!! (I swear I was THIS close to volunteering to be the room mom for her class too…).

And this is my favorite- volunteer to be in charge of all the party foods for Nate's class- after I complained about the extent of sugary and processed "treats." Way to go, Kate.

And do all this while still trying to meal plan, grocery shop, cook dinner, make lunches, clean all 10,000 sq. ft of our house (okay, I’m really exaggerating), spend an hour and a half driving to and from schools and sitting in carpool lines (twice daily), feeding the dogs, doing laundry, folding and putting away laundry, ironing Pete’s clothes, working with each child educationally, taking Nate to baseball practice and games, paying bills, doing dishes, picking up backyard dog poop (YUCK), maintaining the yard, cleaning the clutter, giving baths, reading stories, visits to the doctor, etc… etc…

You get the picture. We all do it, right? We take on too much, and what kills me is that most often, we KNOW that we’re doing it, and we don’t stop. We’re MOMS, and it is just what we do.

BUT, I am beginning to see the negatives associated with this insanity.

I am:

• becoming impatient
• running on little sleep
• gaining weight (trust me, its in all the wrong places)
• missing out on more quality time with my kids
• neglecting valuable relationships with friends and family
• creating tension, and a "rush, rush" environment in my home
  
• missing out on more enjoyable activities for myself
  

Just seven weeks after the chaos begun, I am stopping for a moment, taking note, and making necessary changes.

• This morning I went for a run, and it felt awesome. I got some me time and I'm working on getting back in shape.
• I'm going to ask for more help from others
• I'm going to withhold from any further volunteering right now
• I'm going to spend the day with Jules-(we're going to make an apple pie!)

I'm going to try my best to slow down, and figure out what is really important to me these days. I am just thankful that I begun to consider all of this, before it got TOO late!

What about you?

What activity or time consuming event this week could you just look at and say, no?!!!!

Enjoy your Tuesday,
Kate