OOPSIE DOOPSIE

Days and weeks can get messy. Things get lost in the fold. I can’t remember the last time I saw my daughter’s favorite socks [and cue her request for said socks NOW]. Moments when I genuinely  connect with my husband seem to sometimes be lifetimes apart. My daughter sometimes whimpers as I put her to bed as she just wants 5 more minutes of me. It’s within these moments that I ask for grace and seek the strength to reignite the balance.

As a family that has two working parents, it’s a tough business. And if I’m not careful, both of my worlds, work and family life, become just that – two businesses that operate with varied transactions in order for us to successfully close out the day … only to just wake up and do the whole thing over again. Just sounds so … awful.

My hope is to smash the monotony, create healthy divides and make the family life full of exactly that … life. I’m committed to a few things to keep balance.

Take time for your self. The one that gets missed the most. Even if we steal just a few brief moments during the day, we allow ourselves to recharge and are better equipped to take on the next moment that is ultimately given to someone else. It can be anything from a walk to an uninterrupted cup of coffee to running an errand alone. Or a hobby. Or joining a book club. Spending time doing something for the self and just exhaling for a moment is so necessary and absolutely lovely.

Do one new thing a week as a family. Easy to say and easier to do. Please trust me. Exploring the area where you live is worth it. And this is where living in the age of social media has its benefits. It’s rare to see a city without a slew of random hashtags that highlight some aspect of that particular area. Not only do you get a chance to get out and live in the city you reside, you will hopefully do it together as a family. That’s my favorite part.

Put a date on the calendar. It might just be me, but when I see something written on our home calendar, it’s a done deal. We can plan around it, and things sometimes get double-booked, but we commit to the time. We vow to make “us” a priority, whether that “us” is defined as my husband and me, my daughter and me or my daughter and husband. Dates all around. And I suppose I should say that I define a date as a day or night in or out. Anything goes.

Limit the shop talk and off-hours work. This is tough because sometimes it is unavoidable, but I try my best to put the work day behind me as much as possible when I’m with my family. We still end up talking about work sometimes – my husband and I work in sometimes similar industries, if that makes sense – but then we bring it back to something else. Anything else. And laugh.

Let go of the guilt. We stumble and fall on this road. It just happens. We miss, forget, over-schedule, and it’s okay. Perfection isn’t reality, and “good enough” is really very good.