“Grab your bags and get into the car, time to go”.
Tim: "Muuuuum, Sophie did a spew, over me. It’s everywhere and David is crawling through it!”
Needless to say, we did not make it in time for school that day. And my planning for that day got shredded.
Next day, I got a call from school. My son that went so happily to school that morning, was throwing up in the bushes. It took him 4 days, before he started moving around, without holding on to a bucket. And when they all started to get better, I got sick...
That’s two weeks ago, I’m back on my feet, finally caught up with the things that got on the back burner.
Being sick is hard when there are four young kids that need looking after, you can’t nod of with a one year old that has just learned to climb. And a two year old who likes to explore. So I would play tag with my husband, putting everyone at the dinner table and going straight to bed the moment he came home.
But being sick also has a silver lining, it gives you time to take stock of your life while you lay flat on your back. Time to think about your dreams, ideas, the things that make you happy. Sometimes being sick can be your bodies way of saying STOP!
Stop and think. Stop and take stock. Are you undermining you body?
For me it became a good time to take stock of my workload, what makes me tick, what is really important. I’ve created a new weekplanning, putting in my priorities, then filling it up with a flexible task list of the things I like to get done, but can move (or drop) without feeling guilty. Because boy, are there a lot of things to feel guilty about! An endless list and you can beat yourself up about the balls you drop (guilty!), but it doesn’t change the fact that there is only so much you can do in a day. I don’t know if it’s a mum thing, or just me, but either way PRIORITISE is my new mantra.
Sports and gardening are the things that make me tick, so they become non negotiable. Admin a manageable 1 hour block, same with cleaning, maintenance,...
What isn’t done can wait until next week.
I love making and selling my own products, but doing my own markets, that’s out for now. I just can’t bake and make enough for a market on top of stock needed for farmers markets, gym and orders (unless I want to turn in a cranky mum, permanently). New businesses and market promotors that have approached me will have to wait until our youngest two start preschool. A hard decision to make, but I’m not feeling guilty about it!
So with the new week planning in place I started this week, full of hope, lots of fun things to do with the kids and good ideas to try out.
Tim: “Mum, I’m not feeling well”...
Prioritise - definitely the way to go. Seems like you have made some wise choices. Hope you are all feeling well very soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks Karen!
DeleteOh my sounding all so overwhelming for you at present{{}}
ReplyDeleteBut taking stock and prioritising is a great plan! Sometimes we have to make hard decisions but I think at this stage in your life a wise one{}