I didn’t write this post to guilt trip myself into being more focused on my kids. They’re doing just fine. They do get a lot of me, and sometimes I need a break. But I did write this post because as a wife, mom, and person, I can always do better. There’s always room for improvement and always something to fix. This was written to be more reflective and search out ways to do better. What can I tweak to help my kids grow into more Jesus loving, successful humans? One day I won’t be raising tiny humans, but will hopefully release them into the world equipped with all the tools they need to be productive members of society.
My Cell Phone
I’m aware that I spend too much time on my phone. I come home from work, prepare supper, make sure the girls are bathed, and around 6:30 – 7, I finally sit down. Out comes the phone, mainly because I don’t want to watch whatever Netflix show the girls picked for the 45 minutes of T.V. time they get before bed. However, I’d like to do better at having all the screens off, and us playing a game or something instead of T.V. time. We went through a phase of no technology on Tuesdays, but we’ve gotten lax about it. Hopefully the summer brings this back.
Work
This one I can’t exactly control, but I can turn off work emails at 4:00 and stop replying. I work full time, 7-3:30 every day, so my time with my family is limited. What I can do is plan my day better, stay disciplined and busy at work, so my time at home is focused on my family.
A Clean House
I tend to be a type A, neat freak. I like a clean house. I can’t go to sleep with dishes in my sink; I’ll just lay there thinking about them until I get up and do them. I don’t think this is a bad trait to model for my kids or to help manage my family. However, I do think sometimes I miss out on amazing moments because I focus too much on the house being picked up and clean. I want a clean house, but I also don’t want to my kids to see me as the “nagging mom” instead of the “fun mom.” I want to try to focus on finding a better balance between “clean freak” and “kids have fun here.”
Laziness
This is definitely something I can control. Instead of seizing the moment on a Saturday, we often take the day to lay around, and do nothing. While taking a Sabbath is both beneficial and Biblical, sometimes I take it too far. Walking around the Horse Farm on a Saturday is still easy and relaxing. Going to the park and having a little picnic is easy and relaxing. I’d like to do more of this kind of thing.
Schedules
We work very hard to maintain a good balance between busy and relaxing. Soccer and running and dance review season always make us a little busier, but we also say no, a lot. The girls like to have play time outside after school. They like to be able to come home and just chill. We try to enable this as much as we can, but some weeks it is hard. Saying no is important for us. We could easily have a 7 year old in soccer, dancing, music, swimming, and running. She would love to do them all, but she also knows this means she wouldn’t ever get to just go play in the backyard after school. So we limit the girls to one or two activities at a time.
