Thursday, January 7, 2016

Experiments in motherhood

So, I've been overwhelmed.  Really really overwhelmed. I thought about having more kids and cried the other day. I used to like to think of myself as pretty good with stressful situations but this two kid thing is kicking my butt so bad.   So after my little meltdown about thinking about another child like ever I did some long hard thinking.   And really took a long hard look at myself and where I was and it wasn't super pretty.   But, I decided to finally heed my husbands sweet prompting and try something different.  I'm one of those people who gets overwhelmed, freezes and essentially spins my wheels round and round being overwhelmed and doesn't think to maybe change something.   But, not today.  I am going to try different small things to try and make life easier and mothering more doable and enjoyable.  And I'm going  to chronicle the wins and losses here.   No one can actually tell you how to be a good housekeeper and mom and wife because it varies from family to family.  So this will be experimental and I'm not going to give up until we find something that works.  If you see me giving up remind me of that and I mean it.  


So here's my starting point.

This week we are only doing one thing a day.   We live/eat and do one other thing like laundry, or grocery shopping, or a chiropractor visit. I'm an overachiever and I achieve nothing when I try to do too much so we are starting small.  (Showers are a bonus item.). ;-) 

I'm buying groceries weekly and not trying to stock up more than one thing a trip. Also buying small family portions even if the smaller thing of sour cream is more per oz it's less over all and I don't want to waste food. We have a lot of food and too many options overwhelms me.  Better to have simple food and get a meal on the table! 

We are using paper plates.   Seriously.  This is so hard for me.  I feel like a failure for not having a nice meal on real dishes  but in this season of life winning is keeping the kitchen semi clean and real plates mean more dishes which = overwhelmed. In fact we don't even have a table right now so how important is it really. ;-) 

I'm having a daily cup of coffee and not feeling guilty about the caffeine. I need energy right now and God created coffee so... 

And that's where we are starting.  It's small but the last few days have been so much more peaceful. Katie has been happier and sweeter and here she is finding her own lunch ;-). Jk! 


I'll return in hopefully a week and report our findings and thoughts! 

4 comments:

  1. I loved this article :D I've been feeling the same way lately...and I only have Tyler. I want another kid so bad...but I think to myself,"If I can't seem to enjoy one little rascal, without feeling over burdened, how am I supposed to enjoy two kids?" I'm trying hard to balance out life and TRULY enjoy the gift God has given us, but sometimes I just don't know where to start... (Sarah)

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  2. Really good and wise decisions Hillary. I think one of the hardest things about Motherhood was coming to the realization that life just wasn't going to be the same anymore, and unflexible me was going to jump on the road leading to flexibility and learning not to take anything too seriously and intensively anymore. Why, I even gave up sewing for a long time (One of the main thing I wanted to do was sew clothes for my kids) I soon learned that it would be a major accomplishment just to dress both the kids every day! I am not sure I ever really got used to it, or could say it got easier - everyone told me it would, but I didn't find that), BUT I began to change and began to find out who I really was and what mattered in life - that wasn't a very pretty picture either...narcissistic, selfish, and wanting kids to be things that would show off how talented I was at being a Mother (and I wasn't). I'm not saying it wasn't a good trip - it led me closer and closer to Him and my need for Him and I learned that in the hard things I had a better chance of learning Who He really was. I am praying for you ....you won't regret the kids God gives you, and your beginning points are really right on!

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  3. We love y'all so much. You are a blessing to those around you! Let me know if we/I can be a blessing in yours. Keep io the hard work, Mama! :)

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  4. Don't forget to breathe.....
    xoxox Grammy

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