If you have been around these parts for awhile now, you know that our family is in a somewhat chaotic season of life. In particular, my husband. Last year he went back to school to become a PA, and in addition has kept his full time job as a Cardiac ICU Nurse.
What does all that mean you ask? Well, our time with Daddy is super precious to us, and at this moment in time, it is very rare.
I won’t lie and say it is easy. It is anything but. It is hard to try managing the chaos. It is hard to explain every morning to the kids where Daddy is only to be met with their defeated little sighs of “Again”? It’s hard to go to bed alone seeing him at the table under piles of paper work and books and knowing it will be hours before he will get to sleep. And of course it is hard to know the crazy amount of stress and exhaustion he is under. Such stress that is evidenced by the amount of grey hairs that have appeared on his handsome head. {Sorry babe, but it’s true}
Some days we have break downs. But most days we try and keep our heads up and our eyes on the prize. It isn’t always easy, but we try to keep these things in mind when we approach each new week. It’s nothing all that earth shattering, but these are just a few things that help keep perspective, as well as our sanity.
1) The Calendar Is Your Friend – Planning is key in helping keep the stress at bay. For me, I like having our month planned out with our overall family game plan. Which rotation Will is on, and what time he will be home. Kids activities, my commitments, what we will be eating for dinner or if the Chick-Fil-A drive thru will be the better option. I like having it visible to see each day so that what little time we do get, it is managed well.
2) Make The Most Of Your Time – We may not get a lot of it, but when we get time together as a family, we make the most of it. We focus more on family dinners, playtime in the backyard, Family fun days, and just soaking it all in. The evenings that Will doesn’t have to study or have paperwork are spent reading extra bed time stories and then cuddling in the bed watching The Office or HGTV.
3) Manage Your Stress – Stress is going to be unavoidable. But as with most things in life, you have a choice in how you handle it. Weather it is taking a hot bath, or treating yourself to Chuy’s creamy jalapeño, or Will’s choice of sweating it out at the gym, find a way to channel your stress without keeping it bottled up.
4) Weed out the Distractions – This one is pretty hard. I think mostly for me. Our time is precious but sometimes I have a hard time parting with my phone/laptop/book, or leaving a messy kitchen in exchange for extra snuggle time. The dishes will be there in the morning, but Will won’t so working on weeding out the distractions is important. Especially for me.
5) Keep Your Eyes On the Prize – When all else fails, keep your eyes on the prize. It is called a season for a reason, and we won’t be in this chaotic one forever. In fact come this time next year we will be in full graduation mode and this chapter of our lives will be coming to an end. We like to think about our future and the new house we will be able to buy and trips we will be able to take. Will likes to show me houses he found on Zillow and even though they likely won’t be on the market by the time we are looking, there is something about thinking ahead like that that reminds us of why we are making the sacrifices now.
Pretty simple stuff, yet some are easier to do than others.
What are some ways you manage you chaos? Anything we should be trying?
“its called a season for a reason’…well said! Good list of tips