Keeping Busy When I’m Busy

I was so busy this past month that I really scaled back my life to the essentials only; I didn’t blog, I didn’t call friends, I used Amazon to purchase most of my Christmas gifts, Tony and I didn’t go out except to work functions, we didn’t do big Christmas events.  Instead, I spent every non-work moment with my family, either doing things for them (housework and cooking, etc.) or with them (teaching the boys Go Fish, building LEGOs, reading stories, etc.).

 

 

It would have been extremely easy for me to turn on the television and cue up several episodes of Wild Kratts or RescueBots (I did that once, when I was in desperate need of a nap, but only once), but it was far more enjoyable to find activities for us all to do together. 

 

 

I’m not sure what changed, but Jamie and Charles, when they’re not pummeling the snot out of each other, play really well together now.  I often hear them say to one another, “Pretend that I’m…” as they play.  My kitchen is super clean because they played LEGOs downstairs for long stretches of time each afternoon.

 

 

When we’re constantly going somewhere, doing some activity, I think we forget about all the cool toys the boys have.  We devoted whole afternoons to trains, cars, costumes, and books because Freddie took naps and I went back-and-forth to the office.

 

 

Simplify: a motto I’ve heard so often.  I thought my life was simple before, but when I excised the extras, I was left with the simplicity of family.  We’ll likely remember this Christmas as one of our busiest, but I’ll also remember it as one during which I really grew as a mom.  Sometimes I say, “I wasn’t meant to be a stay-at-home mom,” but the reality is that I just didn’t want to be one.  After two weeks of concentrated time with my kids (since I couldn’t just drop them at daycare), I find that I am capable of staying home.  I’m not going to, but I could.  At any rate, it makes it easier to stare down the impending doom of tax season and the long Saturdays we’ll spend together.  My kids don’t need complicated activities and schedules.  They simply need me.  I can give them that.