Home making: Life Choices

Just because you can....doesn't mean you should.

When you ask your child to do something, do you come alongside of them and show them the "right" way to do it every time? Or do you let them struggle with the issue and see if they can come up with their own solution?

When you are managing a project, do you ALWAYS have to know every single detail?

When you have time do you find yourself doing more for your family or for yourself or others?

Do you complain about not having enough time?

Here's what I have found during the past week while I was busy working on Clothe-A-Kid stuff.

I do WAY WAY WAY too much for my kiddos!

 My kids are 12 and almost 15. I thought I was having them do quite a bit around the house, but I really need to let them do things and let them be. Even when the big 2 cup measuring cup gets put away with the pans (it looks like a mini pan says my son).

I found that when I manage the Clothe-A-Kid project, I'm micromanaging my help so I'm spending way too much time on CAK issues instead of working around my house.. These are people that I know I can trust to get their piece of the puzzle done so there is no reason for the micromanaging. When I worked outside the home as a technical support person, it drove me nuts when my boss tried to control everything that I was doing.

When I had a few spare minutes I would spend time by myself. As an introvert, working with people is exhausting to me...I needed that down time. It's okay to take a break!

Yesterday my son was reading a book and I was laying by him trying to nap. The phone rang and he held me down so I couldn't get it. "NO MOM"...you need to rest. Smart kid!!!

I had very little time to spare the last six weeks. Sometimes I'd think "oh that felt good"... yeah, I took a breath - didn't know breathing could feel so good. I cannot imagine going through my life that busy. Next year we are doing things a lot different. I don't mind being busy for a few days, but I have just a few years left with my kids before they leave home. I can volunteer more at that point. My family life cannot suffer when I volunteer outside the home.

Although I am still going to lead the CAK project next year, I won't spend as many hours on it when my kids are home. Here's my reward for working on CAK...when a mom, with tears in her eyes, came up to me and quietly said "thank you, you have NO idea how much you have helped".

My tip for today:

Just because you can....doesn't mean you should.