I made a promise to myself that I'd never say the sentence, "I'm busy," again. Who isn't busy? It's almost like saying I'm alive. I probably don't need to tell people. I'd rather make more meaningful connections than run people through my To Do list. As parents, busy is a given. After all, we are responsible for keeping other humans alive and thriving. That's a big job in itself right there.
The quick response of, "I'm so busy!" to the question, "How are you?" is a reflection of how parenthood, combined with the demands of other facets of our lives--work, family, health, personal--make life a little intense. Life is always coming at us from every direction. In fact, as a late-to-the-party Mom, the nonstop mommy train was one of my biggest adjustments to parenthood. There's no pause button to parenting. That iPhone vying for our attention every minute we're awake doesn't help either.
Every parent I know wishes for more time in their day, and especially time just for them. (You know .... to be who you were before you became a parent.) Heck, with twin girls who are six, some days I feel like I'm winning when I can go to the bathroom by myself.
I recently had this conversation with a friend of mine and we decided to start getting up before the little people in our respective houses wake up. She has a baby so her overnight schedule isn't as routine as mine yet, but we got so excited about possible time to ourselves that we are willing to get up at 5:30 a..m to carve out that hour. I've long heard (and read!) this is a genius trick for productivity and setting your intention for the kind of day you want to have. My love of burning the midnight oil (and sleep!) prevented me from taking the leap. Well, now I have. And let me tell you, I love it.
At 5:30 a.m. the house is silent. Let me repeat that: The. house. is. silent. That's a luxury. And having 60 minutes that I can spend reading, listing gratitude, reviewing my goals or just getting vertical before 1,000 questions are hurled in my direction is, in a word, heavenly. Of course, now I have to put myself to bed with a bedtime of 10-ish so I actually want to get out of bed when it's still dark outside. I've discovered that I enjoy it so much I don't even need to set an alarm. No snooze button for this gal.
What do you think of getting up before the sun? Before those sleeping angels wake? Have you tried it? If so, what do you think?
While I'm asking questions, what are your five all-time favorite things to do? When is the last time you've done any of those things?
One of my favorite quotes is posted on the bulletin board next to my desk so I can read it every day: "How we spend our days is how we spend our lives," by author, Annie Dillard. You've got to make sure some of your day is reserved just for you.
As the publisher of Macaroni Kid Asheville, I hope I can give you a little bit of your time back. Let our free newsletter and website be your go-to source to plan your family fun. Save yourself some of those Google searches. Last time I took my girls to the doctor she advised me to quit googling anyway because all roads lead to doom and gloom. When it comes to our kiddos, your gut will tell you all you need to know.
Sound advice.
As always, I'd love to hear from you. Send me an email at SandraB@macaronikid.com
