For months now, I feel like I've been on a roller coaster that won't stop to let me off. Now that we are in the second half of 2010, I'm taking a moment to realize how much the first half affected me.
We were ambitious enough to have a completely handmade Christmas that certainly took it's toll on personal time around the Hardy home. It won't stop me from doing it again, but we'll need to downgrade the extravaganza.
Weddingpalooza really taken over our lives this year in so many ways. Since Christmas, I've hosted three bridal showers. As much as I love party planning, I think I've worn out my welcome on checking all the hostess blogs for ideas. I designed and printed the programs for Kendall and Trevor's wedding, which seemed like a simple offer of my time but turned into a huge debacle that went down to the wire. I ended up using two different printers and not getting the correct product until after the rehearsal dinner. Yikes! Fortunately, the bride never knew about the complications, but I was definitely stressed and worn out over this issue. My sister's wedding a few week's ago was what really put me over the edge. We had just three weeks to plan and I used every minute available, sleeping just a few hours each night to allow for enough time to complete all the projects. Everything turned out beautifully, but I was just too tired to even know what was going on during the wedding.
For the school year, it seemed that I became the go-to parent for the kids' class parties. This seemed to be never-ending. Have you ever realized how many occasions we have for parties? I think I was just catching up at work from taking a day off for a party when it came time to begin organizing the next party. May was the big one when we had program performances, dress rehearsals, costumes to be sewn, projects to be made, teacher gifts to be bought, etc. It definitely seemed to be piled on too much in one month.
Now, the school year and weddings are over and, on the surface, I have recovered from this craziness. I'm caught up on checking the mail, bills are all paid, I'm blogging again, the house is finally clean (that was the most neglected item), and I'm starting to feel caught up on my sleep. However, I still don't feel recovered mentally. I can't stand feeling like I'm jumping from one project to another like a chicken with my head cut off, and I want to know how to prevent it. I don't want to become a recluse and not take on anything outside of our home. I love being creative, helping other people, and having projects outside the home. But, I've got to take a stand for my own well being.
How do you avoid overcommitting yourself? How do you find the balance between taking care of your family but still volunteering outside of the home? Help!
2 comments:
If you figure that out let me know. I don't do NEAR the stuff that you do, but I seem to be involved in a lot of stuff and always running around. Al gets frustrated with me, but it's a weakness. I think that's why these past two weekends have been so great for me....nothing going on, being able to go play at the pool, or just relax and watch a movie.
One of our bigger problems seems to be Birthday parties. And our "Season" starts next weekend. From now til Christmas - we generally have several parties. I love being able to take the kids to do new and different things, but we are really going to evaluate them this year and not do everyone.
That being said.....my girls party is always an extravaganza! I had all good intentions of doing seperate parties this year and Ally doing a sleep over. Nope - they want them together and they want it at home and to cook hotdogs! So we will have another birthday bash at the house next month!
Maybe if you were not so talented and good at making and creating things people would stop asking you to do things? I have an idea... This school year right off the bat just create the UGLIEST thing you can and I bet they will not ask you to do anything again, because Big Momma won't allow it! Just a thought... I hope I was some help!
KA
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