I had this grand plan for 2009.
Do you all remember that post from way back when… Back at the end of last year when I declared 2009 to be The Year of Balance?
How’s that going Kate??
Well.. um… er.. ahem…. ok I confess, not so hot.
Every now and then I think I am doing good. There are days when I feel like I am almost on top of everything, washing in progress, meals cooked, parenting in the ways I’d like to, managing to complete some design work, even to play a little. There are days when I feel like I might just be getting the hang of this balance thing… but they are rare, very rare.
Mostly I feel like I am constantly juggling everything and not very successfully either.
I often feel like if I am winning in one area then I am loosing in ten others. If I am being the parent I want to be then I have a million design jobs that are left unfinished, and vice versa. If I get things done one day, the next four are a bust. It’s one step forward and three steps back.
And then there is that goal of fitting in some time for myself into the balance. I wanted to have a little me time this year.
My children are my life, as boring as that must seem to some. I love being a parent, I love being at home with my kids and I am happy to have that take precedence in my life. I don’t feel like I am loosing myself in being a mother or a ‘housewife’… in some ways I feel like I am finding myself. Though now that all three kids are older, and sleeping, and getting more and more independent I feel like there is some more space for me… and I begin to remember how good it felt to exercise, or go out on my own, or do something quietly, just me.
I feel like there is space in my mothering for me right now… I just need to make space in my life as well.
So I wrote this list… 36 things to do before I turn 37. It was to celebrate my bonus year, but it was also a way for me not to forget about me, about my hopes and dreams and my desires.
So how’s that going Kate??
Um… well… ahem… lets see…
I totally nailed number 18!!!
Well if you take the s off the end of the world ‘chicks’!
I’ve kinda managed number 35
35. Sing Karaoke
I went to a ‘singstar’ party a few weeks back… I even got to sing a few songs before I had to rush off to be at the birth of a gorgeous little girl. The encore event is this weekend and I am all revved up and ready to sing! Ok so it’s not real karaoke, but it’s close!
I was actually thinking I might do number 34 for the party…
34. Dye my hair red – well strawberry blonde maybe?
But my hair needs a cut so badly it is not worth wasting the dye on so much of it that will be cut off…. and yes… I am still working on number 26.
And here we are, staring down the barrel of May and balance is no where to be found.
You know I can juggle… three balls I can do with ease…. but juggling all the things I need to do, and all the things I want to do, not to mention the things I have to do… that is so much harder than three balls…
Oh Kate – I can juggle 5+ knives… Do you think that helps in the slightest when it comes to life?
Don’t sweat the small stuff and laugh as often as you can, I say. :-)
I so hear you about the one step forward and three steps back. I either have the housework under control, or the parenting under control, or the blog under control – but never all three at the same time! I think I’ll still be working on this juggling act for a while yet…
Oh boy, I can relate!
You hatched a chick!?! That would be enough excitement for a year in my house. :) Good luck with the red hair and finding balance… it’s a tough thing to do. (if you figure it out, whisper some secrets my way)
Im so glad (is that weird) that Im not the only one who struggles with this balancing act.
I feel like a WITCH every time I growl at Bronwen for talking when Im trying to work on my novel… and yet the reality is, if I dont feed my soul as well, there is nothing to give to her or Matthew.
I feel as if Im dropping the balls more often than not – and I dont even pretend that housework is one of the balls!
I dropped all my balls months ago! lol
I am so hearing you!