Take a break

I think my biggest challenge as a mom is feeling like I rarely get enough done. There are always more dishes, more dirty clothes, more snot and dirty diapers (although the more kid-related the mess, the less I mind it). And that just scrapes the surface - there are the things I feel like I "should" do and sometimes i have panic attacks (real, if not severe) over all there is to do that isn't getting done. Being sick just sets me back more and more and more and i'll never catch up..

In fact, I'm pretty sure I drowned this weekend in all that "had" to be done and i couldn't (and Jason couldn't) get to.  And then got resurrected, of course. Cause when I was still sick on Monday, I finally gave up. And it was such a relief. No more guilt or frustration or annoyance. The funny thing is, i've had a fairly productive week in between bouts of lying in bed sleeping with an also-sick baby. (Actually, i totally wouldn't have survived the first few days of this week without help from my mom and mother-in-law, but it's still true that freedom from the chains of a self-imposed to-do list is freedom to work more happily.)

Anyway, there's an ebook on time management that was free on Amazon today (called Take a Break), so i snapped it up and have been reading it. Skimming it, in fact, which the author would approve of. Who better to read a book like this than a mom (whether you stay at home all day or not)? Not because you need to manage your time better so you can get more done, blah lahblah. But because there are so many challenges to being a mom, and if anything can be turned into a helpful tool, take it! Also, i find the tone of the book very encouraging, or i would have stopped reading it by now....

Here are a couple quotes I want to remember:

This pretty much covers it. I want to look back on my work and be satisfied, not guilty that I didn't cross more things off. And i want my main success to look like playing on the floor and making my toddler laugh and sweet baby show her two teeth in an adorable grin. To spend time with my husband and let him know how much i appreciate him. To appreciate ALL the blessings that quietly bubble through a day, if I'm not too overwhelmed to notice them. I know I won't succeed all the time in looking at success the right way, but I do hope I try. I guess it's no accident I've been sick long enough to start the breaking down of some bad habits, and I'm glad for that. (And also more than ready to be all better. :) )