Welcome to my weekly Sunday post where we take a break from money-related posts and I share about what I'm loving right now and give you a little peek into our life from the past week.
What I'm Reading
I am almost finished with listening to the Lilac Girls audiobook and have really loved it. I think the fact that it is so well narrated has made it such a good listen. It's a really compelling, tragic, and gripping story of the horrors of concentration camps.
(Note: I almost stopped listening to it because there was some edge-y stuff in the first part and I was afraid it was going to get worse as progressed. But it ended up getting quite a bit better as it progressed. Do note that it it is very much PG-13 and I would only recommend listening to it with headphones in if you have kids at your house!)
I also started reading Different by Sally & Nathan Clarkson — at the raving recommendation of many of you.
What I’m Celebrating
At the beginning of this year, I made the commitment to develop the habit of compartmentalizing work and family more and to be completely offline for at least 5 hours every day.
You guys, I can’t even begin to tell you what a difference this has made! I’m able to be so much more fully present with work during work hours and with my family during my offline hours.
The other night, I was sitting on the couch while Kaitlynn spent 45 minutes playing with my hair (something she loves to do) and Silas was sitting beside me at my feet and we were just together. With no agenda. With no to do list. And I didn’t have a laptop or a phone — or even a book! I was just there… fully present soaking up the everyday-ness of our ordinary, but beautiful life.
Me being completely offline for a big block of time every day means I say “Hurry up!” a lot less. It means I can fully engage with my family without constantly checking the time. It means that — more and more — this slower, relaxed just being together with no agenda thing that used to be so foreign to me is becoming the norm.
Here’s the interesting thing: I thought that working more hours = getting more done. In reality, I’m learning that working fewer hours means I’m a lot more productive, focused, and efficient during those hours. And I’m getting a lot better at prioritizing what is really important and what can just be skipped or saved to do later.
What I’m Trying
I told you last week how I was trying to assign specific chores to specific days of the week. I’m super excited about my new Home Management Binder that I’ve been working on for the past two weeks, inspired by the Home Management How To Course.
Each day of the week is assigned a specific chore/task area and then I put together lists for that chore area. I’m also putting a sticky note on each page for me to add other ideas/tasks for that area that I think of throughout the week.
I’ve been gently easing into this system for the past week — despite initially thinking it would never work for us! — and I’ve been shocked at the difference it is making and how well it is working!
You can watch my video here where I explain about the binder in greater detail and share how I’m using it to keep our home and life in better order
What I'm Watching
We watched the latest episode of Designated Survivor this week and we’re continuing to really enjoy this show!
We’re also watching a lot of basketball around here as we cheer on our favorite teams in the NCAA tournament. We all filled out brackets this year, and so we’re all a lot more invested in who wins! 🙂
Unfortunately, I picked Villanova to win the championship on my bracket… so, as Silas told me yesterday, my bracket is busted! 😉 {And if you want to read a funny story about me and how I have a lot to learn when it comes to being a sports moms, go here to read my Instagram post.}
But regardless of the fact that my bracket picks weren’t that great, I’m loving getting to share this with Silas and to be excited with him about something he’s really excited about!
What I’m Learning
For years, I was a huge proponent of the whole “Get up before your kids get up so you can start the day with some quiet.” I wrote blog posts about it. I talked about it in my book. I spoke about it at conferences. And I practiced it religiously.
I still think it can be a great practice — especially for homeschooling moms and moms with babies and toddlers. However, it’s a practice I’ve almost completely given up this year. Which might surprise and shock some of you. But it’s been such a good change for our current season.
You see, I’m making sleep more of a priority and sleeping in until 6:30 or 7 am most mornings. Plus, our kids need to be up by 7 am to be out the door to school by 7:50 am 4 mornings a week.
It wasn’t working for me to get enough sleep, get up and get some quiet, and get the kids out the door by 7:50 am.
So instead of trying for all three things, I changed my approach and made my new mantra: “Get up and devote the first hour of the day to my kids.”
You know how much I love this first hour of the day now? It’s when I get to really talk with my kids, help them with whatever they need help with, make sure they have their lunches packed, help the girls with their hair, sit and snuggle with a child who needs a little extra TLC, and just be fully present and available for the kids.
It allows the mornings to be calm, non-stressed, non-rushed, and often is when I have some of the best conversations with the kids. I love starting the day with making sure their love tanks are filled up — and I’m pretty sure it means that their day starts on a good foot, too!
And yes, I still get in some quiet time — it just doesn’t happen first thing in the morning anymore. And I’m okay with that!
What I’m Pondering
Recently, I’ve noticed many comments from women who are feeling weighed down with guilt that they just aren’t doing a good enough job at life.
That they should do more, get up earlier, be more disciplined, or just plain “get it together”. I can guarantee you this: if you think another woman has unlocked the secret to a perfectly happy life with no issues or struggles or failures, you are believing a lie.
Because we all have our areas we struggle in.
For instance, those of you who have said you wished you could be more like me. Well, here’s some reality for you…
I had a heated argument with my husband earlier this week that took 24 hours to resolve. And it was started by me about something utterly ridiculous. (#wifefail)
I forgot to feed my son before his baseball game on Thursday. Yes, as in, it didn’t hit me that he hadn’t eaten until we were in the car, on the way to the game — and we were running late. Jesse had to go pick up food during the game and have him eat while he had a chance in the dugout. (#momfail)
And one of my dear friends texted me really, really upset about a situation on Wednesday afternoon and I didn’t get a chance to text her back until Thursday night. (#friendfail)
And those are just a few situations from this week.
You guys. I don’t have my act all together here. And neither does anyone else.
So let’s stop comparing ourselves to impossible fantasies we’ve created in our heads about the perfect lives of other women
Comparison will steal your momentum, kill your contentment, and strangle your joy.
Embrace your strengths. Accept your weaknesses. Celebrate your successes. Give yourself grace when you fail. And, for Pete’s sake, stop beating yourself up for stuff. It’s really okay to go against the grain or be different or make choices that maybe other people don’t get.
Do what is best for you and your own family — and don’t ever feel like you need to apologize for it!
In Case You Missed It
My posts from this past week:
My YouTube video from this past week:
