Isn't it abou {Time}

Time is so precious. Time is valuable. Time moves so quickly!!! Utilize it!

One of my pet peeves is when people say "I wish I had time for that," right after I just got through telling them that I enjoy spending my time doing __________. I was making an appointment with someone and they asked what I do. I told them that I was a homemaker and they said "Well then your schedule isn't a problem." I wanted to tell them how precious my time was, how much I accomplish with my time.

Don't we all wish that we had more time? When Hannah was born, I decided I needed to make time for the more important things in life. It is all about prioritizing. That is how you "make" time.

Well, I started getting up earlier. If you wake up at 5:30 instead of 8:00, you have two and a half more hours to accomplish the things you need to do. My alarm is set for 5:30 on weekdays and I generally try to go to bed at 10:00. That gives me 7.5 hours of sleep a night--plenty to get me through the day.

Time Savers:

Amazon.com: I do most of my Christmas/Birthday/Personal shopping on Amazon. IF you are a student (or have a student in the family) you qualify for FREE two day shipping on most everything (without the required 25 dollar purchase). This is great for me because I hate shopping, I hate going to the store, I hate trying things on--it is not my thing, but I love having things or buying nice things for gifts so it saves me lots of time and hassle.

Staying on Top: Have you ever done a load of laundry, then rather than getting to it right then, you just process the next load through, then the next? Pretty soon you are facing Mount Everest, not to mention the sister mountain of dirty clothes that pile up? What about the dishes? If you clean as you go, you eliminate mountains. I'll talk about that in a forthcoming post.

Meal Planning: A lot of people have asked me about this. I plan my meals 30 days in advance. Not only does it save me time, but it saves me money, again--post to follow.

Day Planning: I have a list daily that I need to accomplish, and I try to stick to it daily.

Why is our time precious? We don't want to spend every waking moment of the day, engaged in mundane tasks that don't further our personal growth and development. We want to enjoy the time we have with our family, we want to take time to enjoy things that are fun and precious to us, right? So in the next couple of posts I will be writing about how to organize our lives so that we are making time instead of wasting time.

P.S...

Time Wasters:

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Parenting: Touching the Hearts of Our Youth

{Firsts}

My one and only recently had her first birthday party. It was great. There was cake, swimming, crying, and all the wonderful cliches that go along when you are celebrating a first birthday. My previous experiences with birthday parties was limited to my own, which meant that birthdays were fun, included good food, and lots of presents. I was surprised at what a different experience the celebration was from a mother's point of view.

First of all--there we a lot of tears the week before the actual birthday. Not from Hannah, but from me. It was a time of reflection. I thought about everything I'd learned, how far she had come, all the happiest memories, and most importantly--how very blessed I am to have her as my daughter. I found myself a little sad, knowing that I could never go back and capture each moment all over again.

I began to think that there were so many "firsts" that had been so exciting and wonderful to experience. Her first laugh, her first solid foods, her first steps...all wonderful monumental moments in time. I started feeling the reality of how fleeting those precious moments are, and felt a little sad. I thought to myself "there are not many firsts left to experience." Quickly after this foolish thought I corrected myself. I started thinking of all the "Firsts" I was going to experience: The first book she reads, her first day of school, her first kiss...I realized that we live in an ever evolving state. I have experienced firsts just as recently as Hannah had.

I realized that without firsts, we are stuck. We are constantly experiencing the world renewed, that is how we are educated, that is how we are defined.

I'm grateful to be able to have wonderful memories of the firsts Hannah has already experienced. I'm looking forward for many more firsts.

What "First" have you recently experienced? What is your favorite "First" of your children? (My personal favorite first was when she laughed for the first time. I've never had another moment in my life to compare to the first time when Hannah showed outward joy).

Priorities...priorities.

I love to read, and I love to "blog stalk" a (very) few authors when time permits. One of those authors is one of my favorites--Shannon Hale. She is the author of The Goose Girl, Austenland, Book of a Thousand Days, Princess Academy (among my favorites) and more. I was reading a Q&A session with her and this is what she said:

"Do you get stressed out frequently with being a mom, a wife, and an author?"

Yes. All the time. I don't know how to do it all so I don't. I'd rather fail as a writer than as a wife and mother. I'm most definitely failing as a housekeeper and gardener. My ship has sailed as a scrapbooker/seamstress/baker.

I love it. Spencer W. Kimball said "No success can compensate for failure in the home." I consider Shannon (may I call you Shannon? Oh yes Melissa, please do! I know you've read all my books and I consider us friends...) a successful author, very professional--but she understands priorities.

So I hope you can say I'd rather fail as a _______ (fill in the blank with your wildest dreams) than as a wife and mother. I'm most definitely failing as____... be honest with yourself. Don't stretch yourself so thin that you cannot meet the needs of your family!

For more on Shannon Hale click HERE and go check out her books--you won't be disappointed!

Worrying

This picture came from Message with a Bottle which I find quite hilarious.

I am a worrier. I always have been. This trait of mine has been elevated with the status of parent. There are so many things to worry about, physical, emotional, spiritual safety I know I can't protect against everything, nor would I want to, I know experience will help my little one to develop and grow--but it doesn't mean it isn't hard watching her go through difficult things.

Someone I admire very much said that she often fears for her children, but you cannot live with fear. She has to replace fear with faith. Faith that God is watching out for your children beyond what you can do, faith in your love, that you can protect them as far as you are able. We cannot live with fear--replace it with faith.

I've quoted Miss Molly multiple times and I will again "I am a worrier, but I am also a warrior."

How do you extinguish the fear you have and replace it with faith? How do you live with the day to day worry?

A Mother's Prayer

Since becoming a mother my prayers have been pretty interesting. For example, last week on a particularly frustrating day at the end of the day while cradling my daughter in my arms as I put her to sleep I prayed "Please help her to learn the word no, and to respond accordingly."

I have noticed that as I have prayed on behalf of my daughter I consider the life she will lead. I am very much a tough love type of person. Perhaps it is the educator coming out in me, perhaps it is because I know the value of pain, but sometimes my prayers go something like this:

"bless her beautiful mind and body to grow strong, bless her that she will be able to make the right kind of mistakes and that she will learn to get back on the path quickly. Bless her to know the pain that others can cause so that she will not cause others pain, bless her to know joy and happiness."

Sometimes the words just come out of me. I don't want my daughter to have everything she wants. I've seen kids that have everything they want and they aren't happy. They may have fun but they do not have joy in the long run. I want my daughter to be an influence for good in peoples lives. I want her to be a tool for good in God's hands and I believe that children can only do this by experience.

There was an article in the New York Times about a mother who gave her son a map and some money and dropped him off at a Subway station with a few instructions. She then told him to find his way home. I think he was about 6 years old. What a lesson in self reliance.

Personally I would never leave my 6 year old to find her way home but in a lot of ways that is what this life is about. We are trying to find our way home and we need to have many kinds of experiences in order for that to happen.

I love my child more than anything in this world and I will hurt when she hurts, I worry for her happiness and safety, more than that I worry about her happiness and safety when she has left the security of our home. More than anything I pray for the ability to lead her to straight and narrow paths so that she can find her own way home. I pray to be able to give her the tools to succeed, rather than simply praying for her success.

Super Cute!

While on maternity leave, new mom Adele photographs her daughter Mila during her naps-- with a twist!

She tries to imagine what she would be dreaming about and tries to capture the scene!

You can see all of them HERE