Life Lately

Control the controllable. That is one of my favorite mottos and comes in handy when we are facing more uncertainty in life. We can’t control when Stephen finds a job (although he did have an interview this past week!). We can’t control the exact timing of when we move. BUT we can start packing a little bit at a time. We can slowly paint over the many holes and scratches we made on our walls over the past three years. We can pray. When we are facing situations that seem especially difficult and daunting, one of the best things we can do is take ACTION—no matter how small. This gives a sense of self-efficacy and confidence vs despair about our uncontrollable circumstances.

This week I’m finally 100% committed to tackling potty training. I’ve been reluctant because the idea of staying home all day makes me want to hit my head against our newly re-painted walls. As much as I love being a SAHM, I don’t love the SAH part. I’m a LGHAM (let’s go have adventures mom)…lol. But I know it needs to happen and with everything happening in the near future, I know now is a great opportunity to hunker down and get it done. To incentivize myself, I told Stephen I want a brunch out next weekend if I follow through with staying home during the week. Cinnamon rolls here I come!

Life Lessons: All the little hard things

Almost two and a half years into this whole parenting thing, I’m still caught off guard by how much harder normal, everyday things are when you have little ones. For example, going to the gym that is five minutes from my house—no big deal right? Wrong. The list of things that need to happen in order for me to just get out the door is longer than my sixteen-year-old self’s bucket list. Feeding the kids, changing them, cleaning up from breakfast, packing the diaper bag and water bottles…by the time I get in the car I am ready for a nap.

So many times during the day I find myself saying ‘I *just* need to do x.’ Because objectively it is something simple like emptying the dishwasher or putting on makeup. But I’m learning that these theoretically easy tasks, when you add little ones who are almost 100% reliant on you into the equation, are actually really hard.

This has been an important realization for me to acknowledge that the little things I do on a daily basis are going to be more time-consuming, more difficult, and possibly much more frustrating than they used to be. That is one of the many reasons being a mom is HARD. It takes heroic amounts of fortitude and patience to simply get out the door. It’s like the difference between walking down the street empty-handed vs walking with four bags of groceries in each hand. It’s a good load—but a heavy one. From now on when I start to lose my cool at the apparent lack of efficiency, I’m hoping to recognize the difficulty of what I am trying to do and not beat myself up if it takes an hour to accomplish a five-minute task.

Info & Inspo

I have been reading The Love of Jesus Crucified by Alphonsus Liguori for Lent and have just found it so beautiful and profound. It is wildly easy to take for granted the price Jesus paid for us and this book has helped me understand just a little more how big of a sacrifice it really was.

This episode of The Jen Fulwiler Show is a total changer when it comes to striving for our goals. It’s not just about how much willpower we have, it’s about making the process enjoyable so that the changes we want to make actually feel attainable and sustainable!

Looking ahead

Tuesday is Saint Joseph’s feast day! Cannot wait to celebrate this major player not only in the Church but also my life. If you need some easy ideas you can find those here.

Here’s to all the little hard things we do on the daily.

In camaraderie,

Miranda Kate