Busy

On the 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month I attend the "Tween the Gardens" Circle time group at the OFallon Library. I have made several friends here and our kids play well together. Many of these stay at home mom's go to different groups like this every day... Reading time at Barnes and Noble, Theater something or other in Swansea, free movies at the Cine 15 on Wednesdays, the Kid Gym, etc. The week is full. For a while I was thinking of joining them - after all most of these are really great learning experiences for children, and don't we all want good, enriching experiences for our kids? Of course we do- but for some reason or another I kept NOT going, sometimes we were sick or had made plans with family, but for the most part I just opted not to go without giving a really good reason to anyone- including myself. 

The other day it hit me like a tone of bricks- I didn't really WANT to go! I don't want to be that busy. I want to have fun and enriching experiences at home too, our home. I want to have time to play outdoors more, to play indoors more, to treasure little moments. I don't want to load and unload my children from one activity to another every day. We already attend the Tween the Gardens twice a month, Le Leche League and ICAN once each a month and Church playgroup once a week. Our Weight family is going to thrive best when we have "home experiences". I want my kids to look back on their childhoods with fond memories of things they did at our home too, not just fun places they got to go. I realize of course that some families probably feel like they thrive best in "out and about" experiences, and I certainly think there is a different balance for each family. Many of my friends from Tween the Gardens are my go to people, some of the best mothers I know and I have alot of respect for them. I just have had an enlightenment about what our family needs and what "over scheduled" feels like for us right now. 

      

As The Minimalist Mom says, "...there are seasons of busyness..." But I certainly don't want that to be my normal.

Elder Uchtdorf, in his Conference talk, spoke about taking time to be with the people you love and how many of us wear our busyness as a badge of honor. This is so true! And I have resolved today to not be that busy. I know in my heart that while many of the things we busy ourselves with are good things, it can also be used against us in weakening the family.

So I am going to learn to say "no thanks" more often to fun and inviting things if it gets in the way of more important family at home time and likewise not be so scheduled, so that we CAN accept the occasional spur of the moment invite or plans without breaking a sweat.