Prioritize for Your Children

About three weeks ago, my husband's car broke down.  I call it my husband's because it is the easy-on-gas vehicle he drives to work and I hardly touch, though, ironically, I was the one driving it when it decided to give out.  Two parts broke (don't ask me which two because this is certainly not my area of expertise).  He fixed one part the weekend after it broke down, but the second part has taken a couple of weeks.  The main reason for taking so long is the complete lack of time one develops as a result of having children.  I am convinced that you could have one child or twenty and you will still have the same amount of time, which seems to be none.

As parents, we can sometimes get frustrated by the seemingly growing list of things to do and the rapidly depleting amount of hours in the day.  It is easy to be playing in your child's room or helping them with their studies and longing to be working on another task just to finally feel less overwhelmed and more accomplished.  I am a very task-oriented person.  The more tasks I have on my plate, the more stressed I become.  The more stressed I become, the worse of a parent I feel I am.  The key is trying to manage your stress as to not affect your parenting style, while still prioritizing the small amount of time you have to get things done.

First priority: my children.  This can be easily clouded by other priorities that are floating around in my mind.  I find it very helpful to take a moment to be with my own thoughts in the mix of any current chaos.  This can be as simple as moving to another room, or, if necessary, handing your children a couple of books or favorite activities and sitting in a nearby chair just to think.  I find that when I take just a moment to remember my priorities, the fog seems to clear, and I can be in the now, enjoying my children and forgetting the rest, if only for a short time.

The rest of the priorities can be worked out later.  I think the key to accomplishing anything on your to-do list is to write it all down.  That way, when you have a spare moment, you don't have to waste any time recalling what it is you wanted to do, but instead you just glance at your list and jump on the first thing.  Once you can cross one thing off, you can breathe that much easier.  As you think of something, write it down and forget about it until you have a moment to work on it.

Be patient.  Your children matter first.  The dishes can sit in the sink, the dust can accumulate, the dog can wait his turn for a walk.  Eventually, your children will take a nap or go to sleep for the night and you can tackle a couple things on your to-do list knowing you succeeded in being there for your children and enjoying every second of it.