Monday, July 30, 2012

Wise Words for Mamas {& Daddys, too}

Jamie at Steady Mom recently published a post titled The Introverted Mom Strikes Back.  Some of you may be laughing, imagining me reading a post about introverted moms, because, while I do have my home-body tendencies from time to time, I'm truly not an introvert.

BUT all of you should go read her words....like now.  Because her wisdom speaks not only to introverts, but to anyone who has kids or spends any amount of time with kids.

Rocks a-flyin'...look at them splash!

Kids are kids.  They're loud all on their own.  Throw in pets and siblings and chaos quickly ensues.  And while it's our job as parents to instruct our children and help them learn to behave and get along with others...there are times when, despite our best efforts, they don't!  No matter how much we plan, they get bored and bicker {in my case it's bickering with the dog who just wants to be left alone}.  Or they get bored and get into everything that's off-limits.  It's hard feeling like a constant referee, constantly hearing ourselves say "No", constantly trying to redirect attention {constantly reaching for the Advil and praying for headaches to cease and naptime to come quickly}.

I think our society has placed so much importance on "productivity" that, for many of us, we get to the end of the day and feel like we haven't accomplished anything, because we have nothing tangible to show for our exhaustion.  Projects we undertake take a million times longer to complete...if they ever get finished at all!

The words Jamie quoted at the end of her post are freeing:
“So stay true to your own nature. If you like to do things in a slow and steady way, don't let others make you feel as if you have to race.
If you enjoy depth, don't force yourself to seek breadth.
If you prefer single-tasking to multi-tasking, stick to your guns."
Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking
It's freeing because it acknowledges the need to go slow...the need to eat our elephants one bite at a time, so to speak.  It's okay to not overextend ourselves by attending every library storytime and children's museum, or by putting our kids in every playgroup, when many times all the running around town is so exhausting to our kids as well as ourselves.  And while it's good for us to have projects and interests of our own to pursue, it's also okay when it takes a month {or two} to replant the planter boxes in the garden.  Or to only get one room in the house clean instead of the entire house in one sweep.  Or to only write 5 blog posts in 2012 {this is #6...I'm on a roll}.

Our to-do lists will get checked off slowly but surely.  All is grace.  :)

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing! I think I needed to hear this:)

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    1. It's good to hear from you sweet friend! Say hello to the fam for us. :)

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