Did I Do Enough?

I know I haven’t been a mom for that long, so work with me here, but how many of you have had this feeling?  I mean it comes and goes, but I definitely felt it this month as the summer months came to an end and I asked myself “did we do enough with our daughter?”  We had some pretty fantastic weather and we made our way outside, to the splash pad, the park, or the garden multiple times, but some weeks I found myself asking whether we had done enough with her.  Until I decided to really just sit back and watch her whenever we did these things, or simply went for a walk around the court near our home and she was just in her glory.  With everything that is so simple – a walk outside, picking blackberries and grapes off the garden vines and sitting on a bench eating them, enjoying her lunch off of a park bench while she observed all of the other kids play and climb, or get showered by the splash pad waterfall.  These things – all S.I.M.P.L.E.

I decided not to stress myself out after I made that realization and just let the days flow as the weather dictated what we could do, or what my little lady dictated what we would do (along with whether this mamma needed an extra nap while she napped too!).

So I encourage you to sit back, pull back and ask yourself where you may be spreading yourself too thin, and where you can simplify your life.  The first few weeks of September are always a bit busier as we head back into routine, potentially getting our kids adjusted to new routines, new schools or just some change in theirs and our lives, but mark it in your calendars now to gift yourself some undisturbed time to really ask yourself ‘where can I make my life a little simpler?’ or ‘where can I help make my children’s lives a little simpler?’  The ability to appreciate and enjoy the little things in life can truly shift our overall focus on what matters in our overall life.