It’s no secret that life throws us curve balls that force us to maneuver around and adapt. I feel like some moms have become pros at dodging these curve balls. It always seems that what you don’t think could happen happens at a time that is most inconvenient to you.
Yet here us moms are-slugging away and knocking it out of the park.
Once the school year begins, any remote sense of downtime I had in the summer immediately vanishes and I’m stuck in this never-ending juggling contest where plates just keep being added. This year is no exception. The plate being added this year is house hunting.
So here I am-three kids (one in school, one in preschool, one in daycare), two dogs, an hour and a half commute on days my preschooler goes to school. Leaving our house at 6am to get to work by 8am to jet out of work at 4pm to rush to get home by 5:30pm to quickly get dinner cooked and eaten and tubs, and trying to allow for a little downtime for my kids before bedtime at 7:30pm. It is exhausting for me let alone for my young kids. Trust me-I already feel immense guilt for subjecting them to the rat race at such an early age.
Which is why I have decided we really need to move closer to make all of our lives easier. The problem is, to be honest, I am picky. I am super specific with what I want. And in a market like we’re in now, buying a house will take a long time.
I love my current house-we have a huge yard which the kids play in all the time and we have made tons of renovations. So when looking to move, I refuse to pay more money for a smaller house. It is a requirement that said house has a fenced in yard, even if it is not as large as the yard we have now, and I would prefer new-ish major structures (roof, A/C unit, etc.) Oh-and I also refuse to sell our current house until we have bought a new house. Is that too unreasonable?
Ok, I know, you can laugh because it is totally unreasonable for the market we are in now. Which is why, while I’m adding the plate of house hunting, I am not going to be very active on that hunt until things settle down with the housing market. I’m hoping that’s sometime in the next 3 years.
Meanwhile, I continue to juggle all the things, as moms do. One day-maybe when my kids are older-I’ll be able to have that aforementioned downtime during the school year. For now-like most moms of littles-I’ll continue to try to keep my sanity and juggle the curve balls and attempt to manage each Fall through Spring.
Take it one day at a time, fellow mamas, and try to keep yourselves centered on what really matters-not a clean house, not working after hours-but watching those little kids smile at the dinner table. Playing in the toy room as their little arms reach for you. That is the greatest goal in life; to see your kids happy and healthy. Keep in mind that you’re not the only ones in this rat race, and these precious little ones are looking to you to help them cope and help them manage their emotions. You are their safety. Be that. By modeling how to have deadlines and extra stress at work, but still managing to spend time playing “guys” at the end of the day. By cracking a smile and singing songs when stuck in rush hour evening traffic with the kids.
Cheers to a new school year, mamas, let’s keep ourselves centered on the good stuff!
