Finding that Balance

I've talked before about my one little word for this year "balance". Trying to balance the many hats that I wear each and everyday, the never-ending to do list that seems to grow every time that I check something off. I'm the housekeeper, the referee, the boo boo fixer, the homework helper, the artist and family historian, the cuddler, the bad guy sometimes (both literal and pretend), the organizer, and a wife and woman all at the same time. But this morning as I was making my website and blog rounds for the day, I came across something on Ali Edwards' blog. As she was talking about how she balances her family and work at home life and what her day looks like she focused on the things that she has learned recently and this hit me...

"It’s easy to get trapped in the cycle of always trying to find that elusive perfect balance when in reality what you have at any given time might be just right. These days I’m less focused on trying to find the perfect balance (not sure it even exists) and more focused on something I mentioned above: being engaged with my kids when it’s that time, engaged with my work when it’s that time, engaged with Chris when it’s that time, engaged with myself when it’s me time."

This hit me kinda hard... how much of my day do I spend thinking about the other things that I need to be doing? I spend my cleaning time thinking about how I can't wait to sit and play Batman with the boys, I spend Batman time thinking about what I want to accomplish during nap time, I spend nap time prioritizing what I will be doing the rest of the evening, and the evening I spend thinking about what needs to be done the next day!

As women our minds can be going in 50 million directions all at once. I can be doing one thing, making a mental list of other things, and analyzing things that happened earlier in the day at the same time. But am I really present in those moments and making each and every one count? This is something that I am thinking through. In the meantime... I am trying to enjoy the moments that I have with my boys as I try and help them take that next step into boyhood. This is a sight that brings me happiness...


These are the things to focus on as they happen. Yes, I am spending more time in my downstairs bathroom than any other room in my house. Yes, my house is a little messier because of it. And yes, I am doing A LOT more laundry. But I will be able to look back and know that I made the best of every moment... even the not so pleasant ones.