Alas, it is the start of summer break from school so in addition to tending to the littles, I am playing concierge to the 6-year-old in an attempt to keep her occupied. So that she doesn't drive me to drink before 10:00 a.m.
I have been reading some of my mom friends' blogs, and they are so "on it" in terms of their summer scheduling and planning. Like every day of the week has a theme, like Field-Trip Fridays. And they have arts & craft activities planned for their children. And chores for them to do every day.
And even though this planning sounds REALLY appealing to me, as I am hyper-organized in most every respect, I just can't stomach the idea of being this organized in terms of my stay-at-home routine. Or lack of routine.
Whenever I read one of their posts, I think, "I should really try to do (whatever it is my friends have been doing.)" But then I am hit with a wave of anxiety and stress at the prospect of planning much of anything.
I am a little jealous of their preparation and execution, even if the plan doesn't turn out exactly as they want.
I just don't have it in me, which is really funny because I used to be SUCH a planner. I'd call friends to make plans to have dinner like 6 weeks' out when there was absolutely no reason to do so. Not like we were going to the trendiest restaurant in town or anything.
So I get a slight case of the "shouldas," thinking I should be more like my mom friends, even though it wouldn't provide me any pleasure or ease to do so.
I marvel at how much being a mom has changed me. And how super freaking awesome antidepressant medication can be for helping a Type-A gal chill the hell out.
3 comments:
I haven't written much about it yet, but my summer plan goes like this:
try to get farther than one mile from the house at least once a week
go outside at some point if it isn't raining
Does that make you feel better?
I guess it's a personality thing. You said that you can't stomach having that kind of organization in your routine...but I can't stomach the thought of a summer with NO routine. I definitely need at least a loose routine to survive, and my "themed days" are just the ticket. They really don't even require much thought or effort or planning, but they give some general structure to an otherwise structure-less summer. (Bailey seems to have inherited this tendency from me, so I know that it helps her as well.)
I don't consider myself hyper-organized by any stretch of the imagination, but I'd sink into a depression - and actually have done so, in the past - if I had endless days of "whatever" lying ahead of me.
I think it's great that you have, as you said, chilled out from the way you used to be, since, as you well know, planning and small children don't often mesh. I say, if you and your kids are happy the way things are, then keep shrugging off the "shouldas" as quickly as you can!
I hate the shouldas! But I'm impressed at your perspective--knowing it wouldn't help you or "fit". And yay for chilling out! :) I'm actually not at all organized but just start to go nuts if I have no structure during summers when I'm home with my kid all day. I wonder if maybe those of us for whom structure does not come naturally find ourselves creating structure bcs otherwise we just sit at home all day in our pjs and discover that life is descending into chaos because we don't have an internal sense of how to organize our time? Maybe since structure/planning is more natural for you, you naturally organize your days without having to create a structure to fit everything in? You don't need field-trip Fridays and craft days because you just naturally create a sort-of routine that works for your family without even realizing it? Happy summer! :)
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