Waking Up to a Full Slate

Here's an audio clip so you can listen to the Mom Tip while you match socks!

Hi, I’m Regan Barnes from Momivate, and this is your two-minute Mom Tip empowering you to elevate your mothering experience.

Whew! What a day! Busy, busy, busy. You know what it feels like: the gear shift feels stuck in “drive” all day long, full-speed ahead, downhill with the force of gravity having full sway… sometimes it’s terrifying! 

Maybe I’m an adrenaline junkie or have a little ADHD, but I have to admit that I kinda like days like this. I like knowing what’s the next thing to get done -- or seventy-two specific things. I love To-Do Lists -- attacking them like my pen is a sword, scratching off items viciously in victory! 
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Sometimes  I work retroactively, writing down whatever-it-is that's been using up my time just so I can cross it off and give myself credit! Things like changing diapers, snuggling a kiddo during a rough time, cleaning up an unanticipated mess… the “mental load” of problem-solving and scheduling and decision-making.

I’ve noticed two factors that can make the day feel like a whirlwind: 

The first is duties and events put on my calendar by various responsibilities. The second is due to my conscious effort to make the most of each minute on my own, not based on outside obligations, but because I love life and don’t want to waste a minute of it. This can be both exhilarating and exhausting. And it makes built-in downtime more valuable and more necessary.

The idea that I always wake up to a full slate was taught to me in a housecleaning class! There is always something to clean or de-clutter. In the life of a mother, there is always a child to hug, to read to, to convince to eat nutritious food, to encourage in their chores & homework… life offers full and rich experiences in every moment if we’ll accept what each moment offers -- including the slow-down times when just sitting and breathing mindfully is enough.

The “Full Slate” concept is sometimes discouraging to me since the day-in/day-out, repetitive things that tend to fill up the slate aren’t the “fun” things I want to fill up my to-do list with.

However, as I've embraced the truth of it, I find it liberating! Even meager efforts towards consistency keep things cleaner, more organized, and less overwhelming -- and therefore simpler and faster -- so the reward is that I can spend time doing tasks that I deem a little more fun than housecleaning.

Mom, consider your “Full Slate” and see how consistency can open up more fun time and more down time, and use that time to count your blessings, then share if this practice elevates your mothering!