A Week in the Life of a Busy Mommy

Tonight I sit here with droopy eyes and a slightly alert mind. There are times I look at the things that I've allowed to back up on myself and I get so mad at me. Why do I do that to me? Why don't I just get to work on those things when I have the time? How do I allow my time to be so poorly managed?

Then I thankfully have a week like this one to remind me that it isn't always due to my error that things are still left undone. Life has little surprises that set us back when we least expect it.

Saturday I finally got myself motivated to get sewing. I have 3 'jobs' promised to 3 different people. I have 2 almost complete smocked dresses I've made for HC. I have several items I can no longer wear until I mend them. I have piles of books here and there that I need to put in a safe place. I have paperwork and no place to properly sort it and the undone piles grow and grow.

So back to this week.. Saturday was a rainy day and I was finally able to devote my first free Saturday to sewing. I wanted to lie around and relax with everyone but I KNEW I had to get going on job 1 because I find myself wanting to finish the smocked dresses for HC but all the other jobs weigh me down. My energy for the things I want to do is overshadowed by what was promised. I finally completed one piece (out of the 7 pieces in job 1) and cut the 2nd piece and had plans for Sunday to try and make 2 more pieces and cut one more out. My goal is to be done before next weekend. My personal goal.

Sunday at 1AM the electricity went out and so the night was not a restful one. The electricity was out until 9:30 AM Sunday and we missed church. We were all tired and had a few errands to run and we came home to collapse for our mega nap! Wake up from our naps and decide (last minute) to invite friends over for dinner. This was quite refreshing but - no sewing progress made. Go to bed with the hopes that tomorrow will be a good day.

Monday - Steve left for a business trip and I awoke in a fog. Not a headache, just a fog. As though I was dragging through my day and HC began complaining of a tummy ache. Sometimes a tummy ache is not a true tummy ache so we tried to really understand what "my tummy hurts" meant this time. No clarity - night one over!

Tuesday - fog lifted and we played catch up on some of our school work. Great day but it ended with HC once again complaining of a tummy ache. I realized she hadn't had a b. movement in a few days so I began to ask more questions and found it wasn't a nausea but a cramping ache so I think .... constipation. B. movement done - HC still cramping. I hope she'll feel better tomorrow.

Wednesday - decent day.. errands to run... HC more grumpy and more visibly lethargic. The ants came marching in. All night Wednesday HC was up and down complaining of pain and crying and doubled over. So Mommy had little rest again.

Thursday - impromptu doctor's appointment to check out the belly ache. Doctor says she thinks HC may have caught a small version of the latest virus and she should be fine soon. Come home - rest a little and off to ballet. (HC is fine per the doctor and wanted to go so... we went) JB wanted to go inside HC's class and watch her dance. He was unhappyb but finally settled down while I read books to him. HC finished her ballet happily and we went home. The kids are now in bed as I wait for Steve to walk through the door.

Friday - I hope to recover and sew at least 2 pieces so that I can regain my momentum and hopefully have my first job complete before next weekend - as originally hoped. Meanwhile we've had school days and will finish up week 7 of school next week and have our first school break of the year! Quite a busy little week with many things thrown in there that were unexpected and the surprises really wore me out. It's a shame that we have finished 6 weeks of school this year and I am not celebrating such an accomplishment. I am beating myself up for one neglected thing.

Now I will remember that I should give myself a little grace when I think about the jobs that are still incomplete. They are not incomplete due to my procrastination. They are still incomplete due to the busyness of life. I was asked to do the jobs at the end of the summer. I then had a summer full of traveling. I did not have the specifics for job 1 (like the pattern/fabric) until a month ago. Finally when I had time to sit down and do the job - I had to adjust to the grind of each day.

Why do I bother to blog about this?? Maybe someone out there can give themselves a break too when they realize they are not super-Mom. I know I will have another blip of life like this past summer again one day and maybe I will encourage myself. Jobs 2 and 3 still need to be begun but the fabric/patterns have not yet been selected. The perfectionist in me wants the job request, the tools, time to sew, to be done and to sit back with a sigh of relief. All this back up makes me feel like a load is on my shoulders. I feel like I am not keeping my word. A week like this one reminds me - we cannot control every millisecond of life. I now choose to go with the flow again, without beating myself up when things seem to drag behind. Sorry if this is incoherent. I feel incoherent right now.