Busyness

When people see me with 3 children, they almost always say, “I bet you have your hands full!” or “I bet they keep you busy!” But I don’t feel busy. I feel like my life has simplified since moving to Colorado (once the transition was over). Our days are not usually over-scheduled. We get up, we get Naomi to school, we come home and clean the house, we eat lunch, we take naps, we pick Naomi up from school. We have playdates, we visit the library, we just started going to a mom’s group, and we run errands and have doctor’s appointments, but we aren’t really busy. I’m not stressed out. I know that I have all day to get to that sink full of dishes, so if it doesn’t get done during Sarah’s morning nap, it’s OK.

Of course I have my moments when I get overwhelmed. Usually this happens between 4 and 7 p.m., when we are trying to do homework, eat dinner, and get the kids bathed and to bed. Last night in particular was awful, when I managed to ruin making even mac & cheese for dinner. (Tim usually cooks, don’t worry.)

Since Sarah’s been born, I have been feeling guilty for NOT being busy. I felt like maybe I was not doing as much as I should be doing. Every other mother is so busy…why am I not?

Yesterday Sarah, Rachel, and I went to a MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) meeting, and the devotional was about busyness. It spoke right to my heart. It talked about how we often feel we are not worthy unless we are busy, but that God does not measure our worth by how much we do in one day.  In fact, Tim has often said that he feels busyness gets in the way of allowing God to work in our lives. We can be so busy that when God asks us to do something, we either don’t hear Him, or there’s just no room in our schedule for any adaptions.

So I have decided not to feel guilty anymore about the quieter pace of my life. I don’t do housework after 8 p.m. so I can have time to relax and recharge, and that’s OK.  Naomi is not taking any extracurricular activities, because she doesn’t want to right now, and that’s OK. When she wants to take a dance class or try out a soccer team, we’ll check it out.  Rachel’s days largely consist of unstructured free play time and reading books, and that’s OK too. If I was up all night with Sarah, I will take a nap in the middle of the day, and I will turn my cell phone off first. Down the road we will add other activities and responsibilities, but even then, I will be on guard to keep busyness from taking over.