MY CLASSIC RANTS!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Crazy Busy (by Choice)

Moms are busy today, right?! Extremely busy, crazy busy! You can hear a mom complaining about how busy she is just about anywhere you go. Get one to soccer, another to cello lessons, bake 8 dozen brownies for the teacher’s meeting, fix dinner, help a child construct a volcano, etc, etc, etc. It’s even in their Facebook statuses (stati?).
But you know what? Moms have always been busy. It’s the nature of being a mother (or father, for that matter). So, if it’s normal to be busy, why complain about it? It’s just life as a parent.
Another thing, most of these moms are busy because they keep saying yes to every opportunity or need that arises. You don’t have to do that!!!! Saying no is just fine!!! What are you trying to prove? If you overextend, everyone suffers for it.I had a friend a few years back (who I guess is too busy for me now) who, when you asked her how she was doing, never failed to answer, “Life is just crazy. It’s just crazy busy over here!” And, I’ll confess, I got really tired of hearing that. It seemed to imply that she was busier than me, than everyone else. And just because I don’t rant about my busy-ness doesn’t  mean I’m not busy! It means I don’t waste time and energy talking about being busy because I’d rather use that time and energy toward getting things done!
In one lone, inexplicable moment of wisdom when I was expecting our first child, my husband and I agreed that our kids would only do 1 extra-curricular activity at a time, plus school and church. With a very few overlapping seasons-type exceptions, we have stuck to that pledge. And, our family life runs fairly smoothly. We spend lots of time together and we like it that way.
You may wonder if my children have suffered because of this limitation? Well, they’re certainly not perfect, but all three are doing quite well in school (so far), play instruments, love sports and attend church regularly. They all have a nice group of friends and they seem to be happy and well-adjusted. So, we’re not going to mess with that!
This decision has saved our family time, energy, and lots and lots of money. Not to say this approach is for everyone, but it works well for us!
Here ends my rant on the busy, busy, busy moms of today. Thanks for listening!
Laughing, LG

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