school

Super Ordinary Wednesday

Some days my Instagram feed looks like I live in a fairytale land where all things run smoothly and life is wonderful. Honestly, some days I feel like I’m in a fairytale land. Some days life does run smoothly, all my to-dos get crossed. I spend some time connecting and reaching out to people in my doTERRA business, my kids eat their veggies, and I rock out a YouTube video like a boss. Some days I truly feel like Super Man… or Super Woman, I guess. You get the picture.

But other days… other days are just… an ordinary day. It’s those freakin’ ordinary days that get you. At least the ordinary days get me. My personality is very much achievement driven, and if I don’t feel like I’ve achieved anything in a day, my mood can easily go from Life is awesome! to I’m the worst human being on the planet. I know, it’s totally irrational, but I’m working on it, and luckily, I don’t have these days very often…But I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that today is one of those days.

My 2 year old, Isaac, learned how to climb out of his crib, so nap time becomes the most unproductive and frustrating 2 hours of my life. My 4 year old, Tim, won’t go to bed so I’m snapping at the whole family, my kitchen never got cleaned because I’m just tired from constantly having at least 1 child on me, and my laundry has taken over my favorite spot on the couch. (I thought if I put it there it would motivate me more to fold it. It didn’t. Now I just regret that decision.) I did absolutely nothing for my doTERRA business, and it’s one of those days when my husband and I pass like ships in the night, so adult conversation was minimal… Unless you count the times I talked back to Gary Vaynerchuk while watching his YouTube videos while nursing baby Sarah. And I feel like a failure in every aspect of my life… I know, so dramatic!

    So. Much. Laundry.

That is not the day to scroll your Instagram feed and stalk moms you admire. Not today when your house is a mess, you haven’t blogged in over a week, and you discovered caterpillars are feasting on your arugula. It’s okay to admire people and their talents and abilities, but probably not on days you feel like crap. Because that just feeds the feelings of crappiness (someone help a girl out. How the heck do you spell crappy-ness? My computer doesn’t know what to do with that word.). On days you feel like crap you should turn off your social media and text a friend. Someone who can remind you that you’re not a failure in life… you just had an unproductive day.

I mean, kinda. It wasn’t too unproductive. I fed my kids real food, remembered to pick Noah up from school, and I made a few phone calls. It wasn’t the worst day in the world. Seriously as I’m typing this I’m already starting to feel better about life. New thought: When you feel like you’ve failed at your day, make a list of the positive things you did. I’ll start with mine:

How I Rocked This Ordinary Wednesday

  1. Got up at 5:15am to read Scripture and pray.
  2. Went to yoga at 6:00am.
  3. Did some gardening with the kids this morning.
  4. We ate a healthy breakfast and lunch.
  5. Picked up Noah on time… Well, only 5 minutes late.
  6. We ate a healthy dinner.
  7. Contacted some doTERRA friends.
  8. I kept all 4 kids alive.

I feel better already. My outlook on my day has shifted. Ok, seriously, DO THIS next time you feel like you didn’t accomplish enough. You’ve done more than you realize. Remember, even Superman wasn’t Superman all the time. Sometimes he was just Clark Kent. And that’s okay. And remember, that comparison game is kryptonite.

Come on, share some success you’ve been having during the ordinary days! What have you accomplished today?

Advertisement

Sweet & Sour Kids

sweet-sour-2

You know those Sour Patch kids commercials? “First they’re sour, then they’re sweet.” That’s about what it’s like every day with kids.

My day usually starts around 3:00AM (sour) with a wake up call from my baby Sarah letting me know she’s ready to nurse. I usually groan, hit my cell so I can use it as a flashlight, then get my baby girl and make my way to the couch. As I nurse her, sometimes I’ll scroll through Facebook, sometimes I’ll close my eyes and doze off again, but other times I’ll choose to soak in the moment. I look down at my (sweet) baby girl and realize she will never be this little again, she will never need me as much as she does now again, and I kiss her cute little cheeks before putting her back in her Pack n Play while I crash back in my bed next to my sleeping husband.

Then my alarm goes off at 6:15AM telling me it’s time to start getting ready to take Noah to school. I snooze it a couple of times, knowing Nathan will be up and starting breakfast for everyone (thanks, babe). I finally drag myself out of bed in time to make Noah lunch and see how crazy his bedhead is to fix it. We walk to school, and he chats with me about his new friends and recess (these walks are so sweet). As soon as he walks inside the school doors I realize how freakin’ hot it is at 7:30 in the morning in October, and sweat like a pig on the walk back (sour).

The rest of my morning is filled with watching Tim and Isaac make a huge pile of pillows and blankets to jump on to (sweet) and being a referee when they both jump at the same time and knock heads (sour). Baby Sarah is quick to remind me every few hours to nurse her and will coo and laugh with me (sweet) until she poops (sour), and then laughs some more at me. The amount of diapers I go through a day with 2 littles still in diapers is ridiculous.

After lunch everyone takes a nap. I think most people will admit that kids look the sweetest when they’re sleeping. Some days I nap with Tim (sweet), other days I decide to tackle the dishes or work on the pile of laundry my kids create (sour). Then I wake them up to drive to get Noah (because I’m not walking 2 miles in 100 degree South Texas weather with all the kids). Now, that pick up line is something else: it seems no matter what time you make it in the line you end up waiting at least 20 minutes, and then occasionally our A/C goes out when the Suburban isn’t moving (oh so sour moments).

The rest of the day is a blur. I just try to keep the boys from hurting each other until Nathan comes home, feed and bathe them, and then put the boys to bed. This is usually when baby Sarah wants to tell me about her day so we chat and giggle at each other… These days aren’t glamorous, but they’re mine. These days are demanding and not always encouraging, but I know that even though I have some sour moments, I’m guaranteed some sweet moments too.

How about you? Share some of your sweet and sour moments below!

Kindergarten Is the Coolest

Kindergarten Is the Coolest

Well, it happened. Just like those sweet white haired ladies said it would… Time flew by. Those first 5 years with my oldest son whizzed past me, and this week he started kindergarten. I didn’t believe them when they told me it would be here before I know it.

When Noah was about a year old, I remember wanting to punch people in the face when they told me the time would fly… It seemed to be going by so slow at the time. My days were filled with endless diaper changes, sweeping up Cheerios at least 3 times a day, and baby food flung in my face on a regular basis. Well… with 3 other kids at home 2 of those activities are still true with the other boys and baby girl!

Somehow Noah managed to get potty trained, learned how to walk and talk, and before I knew it he started school. Honestly, I was more nervous than he was when we were walking him to school his first day. He was chatting endlessly with his Ninja Turtle lunch box in hand. He was thrilled to start school; he’d been looking forward to this day since he was 3.

We walked him to his class that first day (barely making it on time!), and he sat right down with a huge smile on his face, looking around at everything going on. I made up an excuse to unload his backpack so I could have a few more seconds with him (don’t worry, teachers, I don’t do that anymore), gave him a kiss, held back my tears and left with my husband who was just so freakin CHILL about the whole situation.

It was such a weird day… I’d be washing the dishes and think I wonder what he’s doing right now… Or during nap time I asked myself Is he tired by now? He’s still used to taking a nap! Silly thoughts ran through my head all day long, my prayers were filled with him and his teacher, and 3:00pm couldn’t come fast enough.

As I was waiting in the car to pick him up (because I wasn’t about to walk a mile with all the kids in 100 degree South Texas heat!), I was so nervous. Y’all, I wasn’t this nervous when I went to school, and the day was completely over. My nerves made no sense!

We FINALLY made it to pick him up (those pick up lines are NO JOKE), and he climbed in his booster seat and said, “Kindergarten is the coolest! I can’t wait to go back tomorrow!” And I think I let out a breath for the first time all day. That was all I needed. I was relieved to know he had fun, ate his lunch, and made friends with a boy in a blue button up shirt. He’s going to be fine, and I will too.