Take your time.
Field Guide for Moms Lesson 26
How many times have you been late recently? Like there really is this unspoken thing that we just know that every Mom with small children might just be a few minutes late.
I feel like I’m often on the run, and now sometimes even when I have the time, I maximize it, squeeze in as much as I can and push it on making it to things on time. It’s a total Mom habit because a Mom can do a lot with an extra 10 or 15 minutes, it’s not idle time.
Here’s some “Mom Math” for you:
I have to pick up my oldest child from school at 2:30PM and so in order to make it on time I must be out of the house by 2:20PM and I have to have my two-year-old up in time, working backwards from putting on socks and shoes, grabbing a snack and milk, so I have to wake her up by 2:10PM. (But I really should wake her sooner, you never know what you are going to get.) Sometimes I absolutely crush this sprint in less than 10 minutes, and sometimes I look exactly like the phrase “driving like a bat out of hell” and think we’re absolutely never going to make it to pick up on time. And so, I often ask myself this question, “am I giving myself enough time?” To do all of the things above, safely, happily, without the rush and an elevated heart rate.
And so, I’ll ask you this question:
Are you giving yourself enough time…
to get there? To hold their hands as they walk down the stairs? To allow them to climb into their car seats the way they want to? To buckle them in, start the car, pick a song, get a snack and safely drive to your destination?
Are you giving yourself enough time…
to relax at night? To wash your face, floss, brush, moisturize, stretch, read, actually wind down?
Are you giving yourself enough time…
to think your own thoughts? To process your day, to both stay connected with the people who matter and disconnect from the many things that don’t.
Sure, you’ve got 15 minutes before you need to be at that meeting or at pick up, you could just send one more email before you go or squeeze in dropping off that return before pick up. But you also could actually give yourself enough time to get there, or get there with a few extra minutes and walk slowly.
It feels good to accomplish as much as you can, but it also feels good to have enough time, to even have a moment to yourself outside in the sun.
I realized maybe I was never thinking hard enough about the phrase “take your time”, it doesn’t just mean “slow down” or “no rush” it means “it’s yours, take control of it.”
Keep going!
Love, Michelle