Last week was a bit rough for us. We started the week coming back from a soggy wet Memorial Day camping trip. If waking up Tuesday morning with an extremely messy house with all our camping gear being strewn everywhere wasn't enough, my 10 year old started complaining of a sore throat. Of course, with everyone social distancing and mask wearing this past year, the kids hadn't been sick in almost two years. And of course, any cold symptom these days has you questioning whether it is a cold, allergies or covid. By the end of the week, all four kids had full blown colds (only confirmed with a negative covid test for the 10 year old) with fevers, coughs, and lots of runny noses.
Sick kids always throw things off track. No one ever gave us a manual as to how to balance life as it is, and then just when you think you have some sort of routine down, kids get sick and every plan you have goes out the window. So between running two businesses from home, trying to unpack from camping (things are still not totally unpacked), I was also running between kids, dishing out medicine, serving chicken noodle soup and cuddling to somehow try to make them feel better.
That's the thing with parenting isn't it? We are supposed to somehow balance taking care of children's basic needs, keep the house clean, work to support our family, cook to feed everyone, shop to keep the house stocked up, plus try to find time for dates with the significant other while also taking time to care for ourselves, our other relationships (parents, siblings, friends) all while exercising and eating healthy. As if I didn't have enough on my plate, I took on the task of homeschooling my children this past year and we are in the process of wrapping up curriculums for four different kids. There certainly isn't enough time in the day for all this.
"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." ~ Albert Einstein
Balance doesn't come easy to say the least, and honestly I don't think there has really been a time where everything seemed balanced. There is always something neglected in my life, and I have found that the only way to keep myself sane and stress free is to prioritize the most important things in my life at the moment and focus on those things first. Now this is certainly hard to do when you have so much going on in your life. Things are certainly much different now than when the kids were babies for sure, and my priorities have changed throughout the years. I certainly get much more sleep than I did when I had three kids under three, and I have more hands to delegate simpler tasks. But the process remains the same. I figure out what are my top three areas of focus for the week and those are the things I make sure to work on daily. Last week, while I had originally wanted to unpack and get the laundry done, those things had to be set aside as I took on caring for sick kids and taking on the chores that they were unable to do. But my work and my own health was also on the top of my list so that meant that the unpacking would have to wait until I had a little extra time on my hands. (As if...)
This reflection reminded me that life looks different for all of us and while one must prioritize keeping an organized house to care for their mental well being, another one must focus on their physical well being. This realization had me thinking that parenting in and of itself is and should be different because each family must do what works best for them. It also reminded me why it is so important to never judge another parent because we never know why they choose to do things the way they do. Some of us co-sleep, while other's choose the cry it out method. Some moms breast feed while others bottle feed. Some parents focus on keeping a clean house while other's focus on play time with their kids. Some parents choose to work outside the home while others choose to stay home. Each family is a unique institution that requires the management to depend solely on that institution itself. There is no right or wrong way. We all are here doing the best we can, and we must stop and realize that it is hard no matter what path we choose to follow.
"All families are different and unique, but they all have one thing in common-love" ~ Unknown
Our family is always changing directions. Some days we are out and about while other days the kids are on electronics all day. Some days we complete our readings, other days we don't pick up a book all day. Some days I am dressed up with no where to go, while other days I go to the grocery store unshowered. Some days we eat healthy home made meals while other days it's cereal and chicken nuggets for dinner. 
Today if you were to stop by my house you would find suitcases still thrown in my living room and kids still coughing from the remainders of their colds. Dinner is on the stove, and kids are zoned into some electronic device (it's pouring out while I write this) while I try to finish my workout and finish my weekly newsletter to my readers. We are a bit behind on completing our homeschooling than I wanted to be this week, but I am completely okay with that because with just a bit of review today I was completely in awe in how much progress my kids have made this year. But the best thing you will find in all this chaos are complete smiles all around, on mom, on dad, and on all the kids. No matter how balanced or unbalanced our life is, it's a great one filled with LOVE and it's all ours to enjoy!
Pleasure to Meet You!!
Hi, I'm Carrie. i have been with my husband Matt for over 10 years and we have 5 children and a fur baby. I'm originally from Chicopee and although I have moved around a few times in my life, we have been living in our home in Aldenville for 9 years now. My family and I are love our neighborhood and enjoy connecting with other. When I am not homeschooling our 4 youngest children, I enjoy hiking, exercising, reading and traveling.
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Love,
Carrie
