My husband told me this week (as I was stressing about some stuff) that I have too much on my plate.
Well, I guess I should have said "of course I do, I'm a mom!"
I mean, I really don't know how to avoid it. I have things I "have" to do and things I "want" to do. If I simply deal with the stuff I had to do, I could probably handle it all somewhat realistically. But how would I feel if all I ever did was clean, do laundry, carpool kids around, cook, grocery shop, help with homework, oh and throw 3 days of working into the mix?
Isn't there more to life than that? Should there be? Or should I be content with that as a Christian mom and wife?
When I go through the list in my head of things I want to do, most if revolves around my family. It's not like my list includes shoe shopping or sitting on the couch watching soap operas and eating chocolate. My list includes things I want to do to make my family healthier and happier plus a few small things in there for me.
Here are a few of the things on my want to do list:
finish son's room - including making afghan and putting up a couple of star wars pictures
organize my recipes - they are a mess!
crochet - I just bought a book on hats and want to make a winter hat for my girls, and maybe some extra to
some day start an etsy shop
research ways to feed my family better - including switching over to more organic foods, baking more from
scratch, maybe even get my own wheat grinder
get rid of my piles
get my garage sale stuff ready (I have one week for that)
organize pictures on my computer
read "The Help"
read my Bible daily
exercise several times a week
make meals for people who might need it (I love doing this for friends!)
So you see, the list isn't crazy. But some of it is time consuming and right now, I am barely accomplishing the tasks I need to accomplish.
Not sure what I am going to do about it all but I am hoping that with the kids in school, I will be able to get into some sort of routine and get ahead on some of these things.
What do you do to cross off things of your to-do list?
Big Family Food and Fun: April 13-19, 2025
13 hours ago
3 comments:
It's the age old question isn't it! When is it too much and what will you be happy with. For each person it is different, each set of circumstances is different.
I just listened to a book called, "The Power of Less" and he emphasized the need to work on 1 habit at a time (reading the bible, exercising, eating better) that if we try to do it all at once then we get stressed out in the end we don't follow through.
Maybe you take a look at your list and look at what habit you would like to develop first? Then start adding in a new habit (the author recommends 30-days for each new habit - I think that might be a bit long for some as they will be easier to work on then others).
One thing I know about the Mom's I watch... is that they rarely take care of themselves first. So my suggestion is what do you need to do to take care of yourself in order to keep taking excellent care of your family (that you already do!!). Take care of yourself and you will have the energy and the stress relief to tackle the rest of your list.
Your list does not sound unreasonable to me but it does sound like a lot! If we keep looking at the "a lot" list we will get stressed and probably not get started. If we can take these lists start with the important and break them down in to doable steps it is a lot less overwhelming and stressful.
But that is just my 2cents ;)
I write everything down and with pen (not pencil) in hand... I pray and ask the Lord to prune and prioritize. I use a pen so I can't argue with Him and add things He has clearly said has to go.
This post is so timely as I've been feeling like the things I'm called to do really don't have to do with things, but with people, take the most time, energy, effort, prayer and SEEM like they yield the least fruit are the things He wants me to focus on. But I'd rather knit or sew and see something tangible for my effort, y'know?
But He has to remind me and remind me and remind that I am doing something tangible... I just can't see it yet because I only have earthly vision.
It's all about faith and trust...
I'll be praying for you-- I know exactly how you feel.
<3
Thank you guys for your thoughts. A good reminder to not feel the need to rush into all the things I want to do but also to pray over my lists since God knows more than I what is best!
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