Sometimes it can wait: It was a Saturday afternoon and I had decided that I would organize the kids' closets. Our home was exploding with clothes that didn't fit anybody or were out of season.
I was getting all the bags and labels ready for what was going to be a productive (but pretty boring) day when Parker looked at me and said in his little four-year-old voice: "Mommy, can we go to the zoo today and see the monkeys?"
Are sparkling floors worth missing a lazy afternoon at the zoo? Is a well-organized closet worth giving up a movie night with your kids?
The challenges of being a good mother and partner can feel never-ending and overwhelming. By picking and choosing your battles, your life will be full of fun moments and memories--even if your closets do not pass an organizational review.
Don't take things so seriously: We all resort to "drastic measures" at some point in our parenting. I once lured my daughter to bed with a trail of marshmallows going up the stairs when she was a toddler. I also will admit to giving Parker handfuls of Skittles to fend off in-flight meltdowns during long trips.
Am I proud of these moments? No. These aren't things I do every day, but sometimes there are situations that call for out-of-the-ordinary action. I am not perfect; I'm just doing the best I can!
Don't be a victim: Recently, while on a business trip, I struck up a conversation with another working mother over dinner. She had been on the road for two days and she talked (endlessly) about how she had no idea how her family was going to manage.
How would Dad get the kids off to school? How would she get her work done? How would she get caught up on all the housework when she returned? As she was telling me her laundry list of everything she had to do, I realized that she was not really taking any action, she was just feeling sorry for herself. I walked away thinking that her self-pity was just making her situation worse. It froze her ability to be productive and left her feeling guilty for leaving her family at home.
You already know self-pity isn't good for you. You know that feeling sorry for yourself harms your friendships, your future, your health, and much more. As working mothers, when we let the pressure of life fall upon us and dwell on it, we become what I like to call "stuck in our situation." If we allow this, we can reach a point where we don't have the energy or motivation to move forward.
Our thoughts and actions create 100% of the results (or output) in our environment. Earl Nightingale is famous for stating that our lives are a direct reflection of the effort we have put forward: we get no more, nor any less of the contributions we make.
In order to be happy, we must never see ourselves as victims. We must take full responsibility for our decisions and create the very best life we possibly can.
Samantha Knowles is the author of Working Mom Reviews. To know more about how to train your dog check out Secrets To Dog Training Review To learn tips to know the truth about your man - quickly check out Secret Survey: The Truth About Men Review
