One of the reasons I started working with Macaroni Kid is because I enjoy writing, I enjoy connecting with people, I enjoy the amazing community that we have here in Northern New Jersey. I started my own Facebook group about a year ago, just for Mom's, and am so enthralled by the desire for people to be part of a community. We so often get stuck in our own routines and it isn't until something happens to someone we love or someone we don't even know like the tragedy of Kobe and his daughter this past week, until we can take a breath from our every-day to be grateful and appreciate what we have.
I wanted to share with you guys something that I wrote this past week in the Facebook group because it isn't just for Moms. All of us parents and caregivers are in this together. We may not talk about the little idiosyncrasies of our days and our thoughts with other people, but hey, we all have them. Many of you may have seen the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray and I often reference this movie in relation to the busyness of raising kids. My kids are young still, but I only imagine that parents of teenagers can also relate, only with different tasks on your every day to-do list since you most likely aren't bathing your kids anymore.
Oh, and one other thing...side tangent: I promise you that Mac Kid is not just for families with young kids. I am working on finding fun events and activities for ALL ages.
I so often feel like I’m rushing around trying to get all the housework done, get the laundry washed/folded/put away, lunches made, grocery shop so we have a full fridge with lots of fresh produce, full tank of gas in the car, all of my returns returned, birthday gifts purchased for all of the friends and family’s birthdays, kids bathed, wash my hair, straighten the pillows on my couch, charge my electronics, organize the toys in the basement, make a to-do list, cross things off my to-do list, check in on friends, facetime the grandparents, go thru emails, check the mail, write thank you notes, take out the recycling, sharpen the colored pencils, get rid of all of the teeny tiny toys, make sure we have enough toilet paper and paper towels for a while, and then I finally breathe. Does anyone else ever feel like no matter what you are doing there is always something more that needs to be done?
Do you struggle with giving yourself “permission” to not do ALL of these things every day?
Do you ever think about how you are running around without anyone judging if this will all get done?
What if all we have to do is make the small active decision to practice being okay with things being unfinalized in order to be even more okay?
I’m ready to let go of having to do EVERYTHING before being able to feel okay
I have no one I need to prove anything to, not even to myself. I know I can do it all, but is it worth doing “it all” to find myself exhausted?
Not even a little bit
