The Mom Chronicles: Survival of the fittest
Hey, there moms. Welcome back for another addition of the Chronicles. This is a crazy and hectic week for me, so I am going to get right in to it!
This week is all about survival. It seems like each week sort of has its own theme emerge by week's end depending on the events which occured. Unlike many weeks where I haven't really figured that theme out until the week is almost over, this week I am rolling in to it with one very clear one: Survival.
This week is all about big changes. This seems fitting as we are emerging on a season of change and watching our surroundings transform before our very eyes on an almost daily basis. The large, jovial snowmen we created with our kids are shrinking under the heat of the emerging spring sun. The green grass is showing more and more of itself as it appears underneath the melting snow. The birds are coming back. The days are getting longer. That spring change is in the air.
Well, for many of you, spring time calls for the highly anticipated spring cleaning. Some years I look to it as a chore I rather not have to deal with. Other years, I can't wait for the chance to clean out the closet and reorganize my life.
This week, the Peterson family is doing large scale spring cleaning in the form of a move. It was a very quick, abrubt decision that formed when my condo association in the building I currently live decided to deny my having a service dog (don't get me started). Now we anticipated a move in the near future anyways, as we are beyond crammed for space, but not exactly this soon. But, since the dog has really become a necessity for me at this time, we found somewhere more excepting, less discriminating, open to the needs of my family in the form of a duplex owned by a member of my church. That happened on Saturday. Exactly one week later, this Saturday, we move in. Yikes. Also on Saturday- the new dog arrives. Very, very excited as will the kids be. One more adjustment our family is facing.
So what does this mean for me? Well, it means I am stressed. I am freaking out. I am wondering how on earth I and I alone are going to accomplish the huge task of packing this entire place in one week that it is already to be loaded up and moved out on Saturday morning. Fortunately for me, this week is spring break so I don't have to worry about school. However, as many of you know, as moms we accumulate a whole lot of stuff. As do our kids. In addition to feeling the stress of getting packed, there is the stress of the tax return coming in time to cover the costs. There is the stress of not having my "crutch" in the form of Thin Mint girl scout cookies, as apparently I ordered every kind but those (showing quite clearly my current mental status!) There's the stress of getting enough boxes. Of getting school work in that I am behind on. Of getting our current place clean after all the things are gone. There is the stress of the kids wanting to unpack everything I get packed. Of my son wanting to “help” tape up boxes before they are ready to be taped. There is the daunting task of cleaning out the fridge. Oh, the dreaded fridge!
For any of you moms who have moved yourselves with small kids in the past I am sure you know what I am talking about. There is just so much…stuff! And so, the necessity for a battle plan: divide and conquer. I must take a stand and say I am bigger then this move. I am not going to let it stress me out. I am going to be productive, and organized, and it will all be done in time, at which point I can sit with my new baby (puppy) and relax in the extra space we will have. If only it was that easy!
And so, to survive I say. I will do my best. I will turn up the stereo and put on some good tunes that will hopefully motivate me to move- in a packing way, that is. I will take walks. I will mix in a chapter of homework here and there. I will shower daily. I may have a stiff drink now and again. But I will survive.
I have learned a lot in my life including how big things quickly can feel overwhelming. I am certain many of you have experienced this in your life. You need ten things to fall in place all at the perfect time to make everything run smoothly. Sometimes it does. Most times it does not. So what will I do if I don’t get to all the packing or if the tax return doesn’t make it before we need it and if the new dog doesn’t adjust right away and our moving helpers don’t show up and…? I do just what I am doing now. I will step back and I will breathe. I will not scream. I will not cry. I will stay composed. Basically, I will make my husband deal with it.
And at the end of the day, when we are all moved, and my dog is in my lap and the kids are having fun playing in the back yard we will finally have, and my husband is at my side, I will be able to say, “Now that wasn’t so bad, was it?!” Probably not. Likely I will say what I did the last time- “Never again!” But I will have survived and that is what’s most important.
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