What a horrible weekend. Honestly. Except for the pumpkin part, that really was nice and at least the weekend ended on a relaxed note. But until then?
It started wih a busy week. Three (!) evening events I had to go to, one for each kindergarten and one for big brother's elementary school which he'll go to next year. Me worrying about whether he'll make it in school next year. He'll be just six. His kindergarten teacher complained that he's not good at catching a ball. (might be due to a mommy who prefers reading a book or going to the playground to playing ball). Oh, and my husband being away for three days. And little brother having one of those magnet phases, you know, when all they do is be cranky and want mommy. All. The. Time. Especially at night. Or whenever you want to get something done. I think he's just caught a bad cold. Oh well. I did make it through the week.
On Friday I read Greta's house tour over at Life Made Lovely. Oh. So pretty. And unique. And clean and organized and all that. I looked around. And I saw way too many projects waiting for me. And I looked at the toys that need purging and all the other things that need decluttering. Badly. I really think I have too much stuff.
And I can't do it all at once. I know that. I just sometimes refuse to admit that. And then I get antsy and cranky and try to get as much done as possible.
So anyway, on Friday big brother was driving us all nuts and the day ended with me yelling at him and having a bad migraine. Oops. Saturday I went to Ikea, the boys played happily upstairs and I was just going to get a couple of things for some really nice, creative and organized DIY projects, which of course I was going to get all done immediately and take pretty pictures and blog about.
Yeah. Not. At. All. By the time I got home from Ikea I was exhausted, again, and made the mistake of trying to get one thing done. Little brother didn't nap so he was even more exhausted. And sick. And needed mommy. So I finally gave in, sat on the couch snuggling with him and looked at the giant mess in my living room, nicely lit by the sunlight streaming in - you know, when you can see every tiny bit of dust somewhere. Oh that didn't help. At night the little one had a slight fever and I decided to skip the reunion I was going to go to, knowing full well that there was no way I was going to make another evening out that week. Little brother kept waking up until he finally ended up in my bed with me and some migraine medication.
I was beat. Exhausted.
And really, for no apparent reason other than a busy week and my perfectionism getting in my way, making me cranky for things I didn't get to accomplish instead of appreciating the things I had. Like sunshine. Healthy kids, except for some colds here and there. A husband who brought chocolates home for me from his trip and let me go to Ikea hoping I'd relax a bit.
We didn't really do much on Sunday. Taking the bike trip to go get pumpkins was nice. No yelling, no cranky brothers or mommies. No I did not take the perfect pictures. I've taken better ones, like last year, when the sun was just so. I still need to learn to really use my camera. But the goal here wasn't the perfect pictures for my annual photo book or for my blog. The goal here wasn't even pumpkins. Just some nice quiet time spent as a family enjoying each others company instead of thinking about what else didn't get crossed of the list yet.
We picked yellow pumpkins. No idea where that obsession with yellow came from.
We walked around the woods a little while daddy tried to fix his bike.
And we rescued a bug that crossed the street.
Later that night (after the kids had a bath and I ran around like a nutcase cleaning the upstairs, because that's on my to do list for Sundays and I didn't want to do it today because I wanted to edit photos and write instead) I read this post about Saying yes and no from Emily at Chatting at the Sky. There's a similar one from Rachel at Small Notebook who does Keep and Drop lists. Basically, it's a simple thing: your time is limited. For each thing you do, there are others you cannot do.
I'm obviously still learning. Practicing. Every day.
I am learning to keep only the things, the stuff I love or use. I need to learn also to keep only the to dos that I love, enjoy or need on my list.
Like hanging laundry on a bright sunny day and loving the smell of sheets that have being drying outside and not in a dryer.
What are you crossing off your list?
Swenja
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