That's it. No more mother guilt, no more apologising, and no more feeling overwhelmed. I'm on a roll, and thinking like a man.
What, you ask?
What do you mean when you say that?, you exclaim.
Well, I'm tired of the mother guilt. Tired of juggling. And tired of multi-tasking.
Okay, I'm not
completely tired of multi-tasking. There's always room for another part of the brain to be used while the kids are in the bath and I'm cooking dinner (after all work, calls to Western Australia work well as they are two hours behind).
I'm talking about the multi-tasking that goes on in my head.
Perhaps you understand what I mean. The mind that never stops. The body that goes to work, but the head which is thinking about tomorrow's birthday party that you haven't bought a present for yet, the ingredients you need to buy for tonight's dinner with friends, or the phone calls needed for the kitchen renovation. Thinking non-stop about all the things that have nothing to do with work.
And the mother guilt: over that, too.
Besides, what's the point of doing the 'office work' at home when the kids are awake, or not yet at kinder? Long ago, I gave up on the two year old demanding my time to put together the lego he just pulled apart seventeen times already, and then having the five year old asking why you haven't made him breakfast yet while finishing a work report. Seriously, what's the point of trying to do it when they're biting my ankles?
And it takes double the time to do half the work.
Now I get out of the house, spend quality time with the lads, and
then do the work stuff when the time is right.
And I'm not saying sorry to my child for not playing with them then either. There's time to play and there's time to work. And just because Mummy works from home, doesn't mean that she should apologise for it.
This change of attitude is the result of the ridiculous load of things on my plate lately. The renovating, the filming, work, investments, tax time, plus being a wife and mother. Also, I've been observing the men I work with, and the one who I live with. (For a very long time.) And I watch them travel extensively for business, working one or two projects at a time. Not apologising to anyone. The attitude is this:
I'm not thinking about that at the moment, I'll think about it when it's time to.
So, why am I thinking like that? Because for years, this talk and attitude has driven me crazy. Especially when I've wanted to talk more about that Other Matter.
But I've decided to join the bandwagon.
No more guilt, because I'm spending enough time with the kids. And no more thinking about everything at the same time. I'm shelving the things I don't need to think about, and focusing on the bits that are the most important/urgent. It's been a conscious effort.
But this has been the key to my survival the past few weeks. And I'm going to make it something I consciously try to do in the future. A new mindset, in fact.
And so far, it's working.
How about you? Have you changed the way you look at things? Have you had so much on your plate that you have decide to think like a man and stop multi-tasking or apologising?
Why don't you join in? After all it's a great way to cope with stress. All you have to do is follow me, add your Try Something New post below and add a link back to me in your post. You can also include the lovely button (below). Then pop over to visit other bloggers who have done something new this week.
