Tuesday, February 3, 2009

The Spiral

I often feel like life is just spiraling out of control. We are always super busy. I feel like I am just doing enough to keep it all going because if I don't it's all going to come crashing down. I have always wanted my kids to experience EVERYTHING. I want them to well rounded and to have a FULL life. Not miss a thing. However, in doing all these things, I feel like we miss out on some of the really important things. But what do you give up? I love church I love being involved, we love the school we have to be involved, I love listening to Elisabeth play the piano and the guitar, I love watching all of them play soccer. Lets not forget the homework. Oh my! Spending fun family time doing fun things ranks top on our list so on the weekends we put the work aside and make sure to do something fun. In the evenings by the time the kids do their homework, eat dinner, have what ever practice, take a bath. We have to rush to read a book say a quick prayer and get in bed or we wont be able to get up and do it all over again tomorrow. Three of my four children see specialist and Elisabeth sees two specialists. Those appointments we can not forget. My laundry is always behind. Oh my goodness I should take a picture right now so you could see the huge pile I need to wash. But I can't today because I have a meeting at the school, and two friends birthdays this week so we are meeting for lunch. Then I'm off to sell HEB cards at the school and pick up at 12:30. Maybe while the kids are napping, I can get some of it done. But not for long cause I'm back at the school to get Elisabeth. All this to say....I am not complaining at all. I really love our life. But I feel like we stay so busy that we are forgetting something. I'm not even sure what it is. Do all of you feel as busy and overloaded as I do? Are we missing out on something?

8 comments:

Leslie said...

It doesn't sound like you guys are missing a beat, but I know what you mean. What IS IT in us that always thinks there could be more??

Corrie said...

You forgot ironing! Hee hee.

It doesn't sound like you're missing out on anything, except maybe sleep. I don't know how you keep up with all that. I feel like our life is really busy, but I've only got 2 kids and they're still very young so we don't have all those extracurricular activities yet. After reading through your post, I'm not sure why my life feels so busy...

I think it's great that you want your kids to experience everything. Sometimes, with large families, extracurricular stuff is easy to skip out on. I have no idea how you balance everything but it sounds like you're doing a fabulous job. And don't worry about the laundry. We've all got piles of it lying around.

Angela Robinson said...

It sounds to me like you guys are leading very full lives. And your priorities definitely seem to be in the right place--faith, family, and education...sounds like a good recipe to me. And being able to balance it all as joyfully as you seem to is a great credit to you and the family that you and Josh are raising.

And as for the laundry...I'm right there with you, sister!

Perks said...

do I feel busy and overloaded? yes.

I often say, "These are the days..." and just have to smile. One day, it'll just be mp and i and we'll be wishing for just one more day when they were little.

Now to put up all the laundry that's covering my dining room table. :) These are the days.

Lisa said...

I know about the spiral...just keep doing exactly what you're doing because your children and your husband know that they are loved and in the end, that's all that matters. I'm trying to take a new approach and include the kids as much as I can on the stuff that I really don't like doing to make it more bearable for all of us. Now I'm off to do some laundry...

da momma said...

thanks for letting us know that you are as crazy as us :) I always share fun happy pictures...the blog is called "our life smiles"...but we dont smile all the time and we go crazy too! And my kids arent even as old as your FOUR! :) You do an amazing job!

Linda said...

Oh yes, its just this season of our lives...it will all too soon be a distant memory. :o) But yes, there does come a time when we spread ourselves too thin. I do this every year from October through January! My babies don't go to school yet full time either! As long as it is still fun and rewarding for you and your family then that is all that matters! The laundry can wait...it will NEVER ever go away. ;o)

Lisa Hanna said...

Funny how you always manage to put down in writing the thoughts I have! No matter how busy it is, I think you just have to remind yourself to enjoy it--enjoy the busy-ness, enjoy the play time, enjoy the little things; and sometimes, say "no"! Laundry-smaundry--just keep them in clean underwear..