Tonight, from 5pm on, I cleaned two bathrooms, bathed two children, gave one haircut, made three dinners, cleaned one kitchen, baked one cake, dressed two children, painted 10 fingernails and 10 toenails, created two Easter baskets, did a 30 minute Pilates DVD, and fought some bad guys in the backyard.All because I was spontaneous.
I have this personality that I’m cursed with. This personality that works so. much. better. under pressure. Under deadlines. Under expectations, standards, and goals.
Well let me tell you, there’s not a whole lot of those things in our lives right now.
For the past 6-ish months, my husband has been around a lot. I mean, a LOT. So, I’ve had a lot less on my plate. It has been a blessing … and a curse.
Because when there’s less on my plate, I get less done. When I have all the time in the world, I get less accomplished.
Now, I’m not complaining; help is good. Help is wonderful. A partner in this life is an amazing gift!
But today, something amazing happened: Our kids fell asleep in the car. Miraculous, I tell you.
So I looked at Erik and I said, “DRIVE!” and we ended up in Milwaukee.
There was so much to do at home. Bathrooms to clean, cakes to bake, Easter dinner to plan, baskets to fill, workouts to do, guitars to restring, pedal boards to fix … all before Easter Sunday.
But instead, we chose spontaneity. And you know what? After a wonderful family fun day 90 minutes from our home, we reentered “real life,” and I got SO MUCH DONE.
The bathrooms got cleaned. The kitchen got swept. The almost 4 year old’s hair got cut. The bills got opened and sorted. The workouts were accomplished. The children were bathed. Etc. Etc. So on and so forth.
Why? Because spontaneity early in the day forced a beautiful, glorious deadline into my life.
Thank you, pressure prompted me, for embracing spontaneity so you could actually clean the bathrooms. I like this new tactic.
Oh, I can SOOOOO relate to this! I don’t know where the time goes if I have just a few things on my to-do list, but it just GOES AWAY so much faster than if the list is long.
Agreed! Seriously, today I’m watching my friend’s two kids under 4, along with my two kids, and I’ve gotten more done in three hours than I did yesterday when my kids were at daycare. It’s so frustrating!!!