Dear Readers,
I love my daughter, I love my husband AND I need a break from time to time.
I NEED a conversation that isn’t modeling behavior and appropriate language for a 14 month old. I need to read a book that isn’t cardboard and I NEED to watch a show minus a letter of the day and a number of the day.
I need a conversation that has years of inside jokes and shared reality as a woman, a director, a friend, and sister of the heart and mind. I need to remember who I am when I am not wearing my Mom hat.
I can’t remember if my friend Rachel came up with this term or if it was me. I will go ahead and give her credit, as she is very smart and likely did come up with it.
Parenting Bingo. (you heard it here first) 🙂
Parenting Bingo- refers to the checkerboard of schedules one has to consult before “finding time” that is not already promised, to work, to school, to spouses or to sleep or to exercise! Sometimes it takes a few go rounds before you find it, but if you persevere, you will !
I definitely have to work harder to keep my energy up in the face of parenthood and all the ensuing responsibilities. So this means I need examine what I am doing that doesn’t work for my long-term goals. I want to be healthy and have energy to live my life.
I have been sleeping more (but only because I stay up too late watching things that I have watched over and over again) which puts a burden on my husband to watch our child while I catch up on sleep (and then he also takes care of her while I am work so that wasn’t very fair of me) which was making me feel tired all the time, and I was trying to figure out why.
When I really looked at it and was honest with myself, I realized I am not doing anything to help feeling tired all the time. I have been eating a lot of junk and not exercising, a surefire way to put on weight and get depressed so I am working on that.
Last Thursday, I gave up soda, yes my beloved Pepsi is now a thing of the past. I want to try it and see if it helps give me energy so I am committing to giving it up for 30 days, and then see how I feel. I am also committing to working out once a week and with the combination of those things, I should have more energy, it’s a formula I have tried in the past and lost about 20 pounds, just by changing what I am drinking.
It’s an experiment, and it’s one thing I can do to try to give myself more energy. I will report back and let you know how it’s going.
The other thing I can do is say NO to things I don’t want to do. I can put more boundaries around my time so I don’t agree in the moment, and THEN take a look at all my responsibilities and commitments and then realize, I have to take that back now.
I hate going back on my word or cancelling plans and I really try hard not to do it.
There are going to be times it’s unavoidable but for the most part, if I say I will be there, you can take it to the bank that I will be.
So what has this to do with you, Gentle Reader? Simple.
Do you need to schedule a little sanity? Are you in a busy season that seems to have no end date? Look to the future and say, okay, on this day I am going to take a spa day or go to a movie by yourself (book a date with yourself and KEEP IT) treat it like a real commitment because it IS! Have that to look forward to and that will help you through your current busy patch.
Think About It
Haston Helping Hands 
When I was a mother of two little ones, and at home, they were my total responsibility, and although I didn’t work outside the home, I still needed to take care of all their needs, do all the household chores, shop, cook,do the laundry, schedule things, pay bills and keep an eye out for my mother who was in an older age at that point. And it took a lot of time. I was a low energy person with a lot of allergies, and there was no more that I could do, and I realized it. So I didn’t take on any more than I could reasonably do. I did have a hand in managing a social group that I had started, but had another person assist me with some of the details. Basically though, when I went outside, the children went with me. That was pretty much a constant. I did like to read and so I continued to do that, and spend some time with my husband, but nearly everything involved the family. Reading was a good mental escape as a break for me.
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