Too Busy!

I think lately we have become that family that is too busy with all the "extra" stuff. It is all fun, but it can take a toll on everyone sometimes. I realized after two days of coming home from work and this happening to my children that we might have to re-evaluate our life and figure out what extra stuff needs to go! It is so hard to not get wrapped up in all the stuff you can get your children involved with these days. I promised myself I would not be "that mom" who had their kids too busy! I don't want to get wrapped up in thinking that if I don't involve my kids in this, this, and this then they won't succeed in life. Does making them so busy and tired really going to lead them to succeed in life? You read all this stuff about what a parent needs to do and should or should not do for their kids is there really any wonder why parents are so stressed out? So, I am making a promise to myself and my kids to not do that and allow them to enjoy being kids and me enjoy being their mom.

One of my frustrations that adds to the busyness is my commute and I got frustrated about it yesterday as I am stuck in the car while my kids could be outside enjoying this weather or I could be outside enjoying this weather. Today I realized one great thing and a great opportunity I have, it is a time for me and the boys to just talk. We sing silly songs, tell each other jokes, and talk about our day. Chris was with us this morning and we were all singing at the top of our lungs in the car and Chris asked, is this how it is all the time? Yes, and I realized how I am making memories for my children and that is so much more important than any extra stuff we have going on in their life. So, I am going to focus more on making memories with my children, not making sure they are involved with all the "very" important extra stuff. When we are doing are fun extra activities I need to do just that, make them fun not stressful. I also want to make our weekends filled with fun family activities and sometimes that just means hanging out in the backyard together, saying no to everything else and not feeling guilty!