For those of you who have read my posts from the start of this blog, you will remember that I frequently used to post in the wee hours of the morning, while Iann was awake in his crib. Due to a wonderful pediatrician, who realized that this mama was close to breaking point from 2 yrs worth of lost sleep, Iann now gets a little medicine to help him sleep all night. It's not perfect, and he still has nights when he's up, but they are few and far between.
Last night, it was Brynn up at 3:30am with a bad dream. He settled very quickly, while I laid in bed awake. I'm not sure that I fell back to sleep again until after Jon got up to go to work at 5am.
What kept me awake?
1) I started thinking about how my legs were aching. Worrying that I had overdone the 5k training, and so was going to be too tired and sore to finish Saturday's race without walking. I stretched my muscles, trying to find a sleeping position where they didn't ache quite so much.
2) I was also worrying about the race track, which I think is dirt, and how that would be adversely affected by the snow.
3) As for my lenten discipline of clearing out a bag a day from my house, in order to make it a place of beauty, reflecting God's beauty, I was worrying that yesterday's bag didn't 'count.' I was given some clothes, and passed along those that didn't work for me, so was passing along a bag I had just received within the guidelines?
I finally fell asleep, dragging myself up at 6:45 to rouse the kiddos and get ready for school. Rush, rush, rush. Iann didn't like his breakfast this morning, so the whining level was high, which grinds on my tired nerves. Brynn's birthday party is after school today (he's 7 tomorrow!!!!) and so he couldn't focus at all this morning. We got out the door in time, with the dishes still on the table, and the kids were both dropped of just in time.
Driving home I was changing mental gears into work mode - I have set aside this morning to do my editing work for Disciple Nations Alliance. Then I walked into my messy, dirty kitchen and knew that I wouldn't be able to settle to work with that mess around me. So I decided to clean it up.
As I was doing this I recalled an excellent thing I heard on KLOVE yesterday. The lady was talking about how we often choose to limit our children to one activity at a time, with maybe an instrument also. That allows our kids time to focus on their main job right now: being kids and going to school.
Brynn is super tired these days because he has been skiing every weekend, as well as doing karate 3 times a week, and Jon and I realize that will need to change next winter. For most of the year, however, Brynn's one thing is karate. 'I'm doing well with that,' I thought as I listened to her.
My thoughts drifted as she then asked if the adults in the family do that: do we limit ourselves to one thing at a time?
That concept slammed home as I was cleaning this morning. Here I am exhausted because I was awake worrying about a 5k race tomorrow, stressing to get the breakfast dishes cleaned up so it doesn't eat into my work time, wondering what my bag will be today and when I'll have time to fill it.
So here is the challenge people: what is your one activity?
For those of us in charge of our households, and maybe working one, or two, side jobs to help pay the bills, what is our one extra thing? Do we have time for one extra thing?
For me, at this point in time, it is running to get healthy and loose weight. If I don't do the race tomorrow because the weather is bad, that's ok. There will be another race, and if not, I'm down 6lbs already so my ultimate goal is working. I don't want running to take over from keeping my house clean and being awake enough to be patient with Iann's whining and focus on my work.
And as for my lenten discipline, there are no rules written down that I am following. A bag into the house, then straight out is fine. It's more the spirit of what I am doing that counts. Already there are areas in the house that show more beauty than they have for the 3 years we've been here, and that is the beauty God see's.
What is your one extra thing? Have you limited yourself as we limit our kids?
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