I’ve been thinking about the title to this post for a while now. I went to the Broadmoor with three fabulous women this past weekend for a tennis camp. This weekend was a gift from my husband for Mother’s Day. We drove down there early Friday morning, had tennis drills from 9 am – 12 pm and then had a round-robin from 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm. We woke up the next day to have drills from 9 am – 12 pm again. When it got to the last hour of the drills on the second day, I was toast. I was so exhausted that I opted out of that last hour. That is what made me start to think about this post.
Identifying your limitations
I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about the concept of homeschooling. While I admire those people who do it, that is something that I know is beyond my capabilities. I told her that for me, a huge part of parenting, is knowing your limitations and that is certainly one of them for me.
While some things such as homeschooling are easy for me to identify, others such as how much volunteer time I spend on something I enjoy is not. I love volunteering at our school. I love getting the opportunity to drive my kids to the Berry Patch Farm, or kite-flying with them for Michaelmas, or going on their hiking field trip and so on. The things that we enjoy the most are the ones we tend to have a hard time finding the balance with.
“I love me some ____.”
Zack’s new favorite phrase is, “I love me some ____.” I truly think it’s adorable and was totally taught to him by my husband. So, I’m going to use it to say, “I love me some great wine, I love me some fabulous cheese cake, I love me some tennis.” These are the ones that are a little harder to identify as to when we need to say “no” too. Part of me is so relieved that the tennis season is over, I don't even have to make the choice of whether to play or not.
I love writing this blog. I’ve said to myself that I will write at least two posts a week. I have not been able to do that this week. If I look back on the week, I’d say I spent it mostly at school, on kids’ sports activities, grocery shopping, laundry, and I cleaned two fridges and freezers among all the other household chores I did. I actually went to be at 7:30 pm on Tuesday night because I was so exhausted.
Just say no!
I wrote a blog a while back about moderation but this is more about when to say no. My friend Casey says, “No, is a full sentence.” Isn’t that fantastic! I use that all the time to people who are having a hard time saying no. There’s no need to justify or explain why you say “no” to something. When it feels like it’s too much the just say no.
If it feels like you’re already tipsy, don’t pour yourself another drink, it will only lead to a bad hangover. It is plenty to have a few bites of a rich dessert, more than that will make you sick. Let someone else volunteer for some things even though you may love doing them, it’ll allow you to have more time for others things that you also love doing.
Your thoughts ... I'd love to hear them
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this post. You may leave a comment below, email me to mary@marysalfi.com or find me on Facebook by becoming a fan of marysalfi.com
Feeling awesome that I got to write a post this morning!
Mary
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