As the year began, I was completely pumped about what 2013 would have in store. I was going to be healthier and fitter, be more organised, get in more me-time in for writing, blogging and photography, work on our business more, finish off all the unfinished projects in our house, be a better mum and wife… generally, be a superwoman. After five years of either being pregnant or having a new baby, I decided that my guiding word for 2013 was going to be ‘re-energise’. Oh yeah, watch me go.
In the week between Christmas and New year, Ben and I (and Nicholas) were spoilt with a night away at a hotel while the big boys were at a sleepover with their beloved grandparents. I find that, even just having a few hours away from all three children, my mind starts to stretch and breathe, I start dreaming and imagining. Don’t get me wrong, I love being with my children, but I also love that feeling of my imagination running off in a thousand different directions that only seems to come when I have time without the tiny voices that talk at me from every angle. I spent some time reading and thinking about this book, and I came away from that night away feeling refreshed and excited about the new year ahead.
Then I returned home to my three tiny voices who are on the go from early in the morning, two of whom never sleep during the day and the third who catnaps, who seem to take forever to go to bed, who seem to take it in turns to be up at some stage overnight, who always seem to need to be fed and clothed and played with and loved. I returned home and suddenly I felt exhausted again. And slowly my little light of excitement about the year ahead seemed to flicker and I wondered how I possibly thought I’d fit that all in.
The reality of having three small children is that I’ll probably never feel as though I have enough time to fit it all in. And, if I asked a mother with older children who have to be picked up from school, driven to tennis lessons, watched while they do homework, etc, they probably never feel as though they have enough time either. Wherever we are in life, there always seems too much to fit in. I guess this is real life.
So I think I need to start over. I think need to break my excitement, my inspiration, my projects, my me-time into little bite-size chunks and fit things in where I can. I think I need to celebrate the little things I do achieve rather than always lamenting where my time escapes to. And I think I need to escape from those three tiny voices every now and again to let my imagination get some exercise, and also try to work out how I can re-energise while they are with me.
Here’s to re-energising in 2013. What’s your guiding word this year? How do you manage to fit it all in?
This year for us is all about decisions. We just moved to a new home in a better school district. Now we are trying to decide if we want another (and final) baby.