Finding Balance in the Chaos...

My sweet bloggy friend over at Mama Marchand's Musings blogged today about balance.

Let me tell you it was a message I needed to hear. I will be the first to admit I often put too much on my plate, or rather the wrong things on my plate. I am not just talking about food here either!

Lately I have felt a bit overwhelmed. When you are in desperate need of some home revamp and simplification it can seem like a never ending battle against chaos. In the last month or two we have worked hard in our basement to make it once again into a place Aiden and I can go to play. Winter is long here in Kentucky and our upstairs is tiny and gives a kid cabin fever faster than you can possibly know. We also had to empty our bedroom to accomidate a larger bed, and well, my larger self haha.

To say my home is chaos is an understatement.



Add to that the chaos of a curious toddler and well you might catch something only fit for a movie...











A gentle tug on the entertainment unit had us running for duck tape to protect Aiden from a multitude of technology, and a few sharp edges. The last thing Daddy wanted on his list was a new piece of furniture to assemble, but he got it anyway!

Diapers are of course better on the floor, and well who doesn't like an emptied vacuum canister on their bedroom floor. Sigh, all in a few days work around here my friend. I love our life but it can be messy and chaotic.

Then of course you have to factor in a new baby, a GIRL baby. It means expanding my cloth diaper stash the cheap way by making them myself. It means a drastic overhaul of a tiny already filled closet. It means a second bed in Aiden's room. This is just the beginning of the very long list running in my head.

Chaos.

Yet I have expected too much of myself, and of my family. My body has told me several times to slow down and I didn't listen. So now I am exhausted, fighting a cold, and out of steam. It is my own fault and I know it. I knew it was coming and did nothing to stop it.

I sometimes forget that perfection is not attainable. That life is full of changes, and adapting to those within your ability is required to sustain life as "normal" as possible. So I am stealing a sweet Momma's word for the year.

Balance.

It is a much better word than chaos. It also makes for a much happier family!