The changing of the seasons, so many people talk of how lovely it is. That cool crisp air and all the other cozy little things that most people do love and yet for many fall is a tough time. Changes can be so hard, school starting up, colds and flu circling about. The need for things like heat for our houses and warmer clothing, and the days become shorter and darker. Its not necessarily bad but change isn't always easy and it doesn't always feel good or refreshing.
I usually feel initially fresh and ready to take on the world when September hits, and then a couple weeks later, I just feel tired and dragging my feet again. Most of my new resolutions and ideas have dwindled down. They were good ideas, and they worked but amidst the mass of shorts and jackets and cool days and then a hot one, canning, winterizing the house and trying to keep track of bus schedules that are far from reliable, I find myself struggling to do the basics and trying to pare down my idealistic routine to something manageable.
I am a creature of habit, loving to have dependable and consistent schedules and routines. When my days are a jumble of things that need to be done and I feel like I have to GO GO GO I start to feel a bit shriveled and crabby. Life feels like it is moving too fast and I am the person who has to motivate my kids. Sometimes its hard to find the motivation and zen quality to calmly deal with the million setbacks and still keep a smile on.
Many people I know, even fellow moms seem to read a lot. I like reading but it seems to elude me. I last tried to really read regularly a couple years ago. It just doesn't seem to work out, library books expire, or I struggle to find a book that I want to read, or I pick what I think I want to read and then it doesn't work out, either I suddenly get super busy or something else happens. However there is one book I have been plugging away at that I do like. Its called "Simple Abundance". Its kind of like a devotional or something I guess. There's a section for every day of the year and its meant to uplift and motivate us to be the best person we can be. I don't always read it every single day but its a little easier to catch up when I fall behind because its dated.
Another thing that I struggle with is housework. Before I had kids I would try to clean the house top to bottom once a week. I did the whole house at once. At first when I became a mom I kept trying to do that and felt frusterated when I couldn't. Then I tried a more go with the flow approach but always ended up falling behind and feeling lost. The idea I tried the longest that ultimately didn't really work either was the Flylady stuff. I liked some of her stuff but I hate it when people tell you to "figure out what you need to do and just do it" now honestly do we really have to go to someone's website for them to say that to us? So my older sister finnally introduced me to the Motivated Moms plan, and I love it. They have a simple doable daily routine and then a few extra things most days that are simple and really make a difference. So there's not a big day to clean and instead of trying to mop most of the house they say "mop the kitchen" Its really helped me a lot. The main motivated moms page doesn't have much on it except the sample daily routine and a way to buy their yearly planner that has all the chore lists on it. I would love to order that planner eventually but for now I use the yahoo group that emails the chore lists to us. To join all you have to do is go to yahoo groups and search for motivated mom, making sure its the one that sends out the lists of chores and not a home business or something else.
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