I am learning...

to let loose! Sometimes, you get to a point where you say , "I just wanna let down my hair and not care..." (okay whatever the saying is, you know what I mean).

I am one of those Moms who can be very anal about a lot of insignificant things. I strive for perfection and most times I drive myself crazy.

In the past it has been very hard for me to be "spontaneous."

I love to be organized and to have a plan. I keep a calendar and write down what I'm doing each day so that I can stay on top of things.

It would drive me crazy when I didn't get things done on my "list."

Also, I like for everything to be in its place. If it's not then I go crazy too.

Now I've come to realize that sometimes I have to just "let loose." I can't get so worked up about every little thing.

When you have children, you can drive yourself insane worrying about every little thing.

All of my children have different personalities and so they are not the same. We wouldn't want it that way either or life would be boring.

However, this is why we have to deal with things not always going exactly the way we would like.

I am learning that I have to just "let loose" and not be so anal about little things.

Now when I see other moms going insane about every little thing, I think to myself that I used to be that mom. I wish that when I just had one child that I didn't get so easily bothered by certain things, but I did. I'm not 100% there yet but I'm slowly losing my anal quality--at least when it concerns my children.

I'm learning that it's okay to just "let loose" and have fun. It's okay to not even care if the house is not clean. It's okay that the kids don't sit at the table for all their meals and they make a mess with their food. They are kids and they will behave like kids.

I wish I could tell you that I've already "learned" this and everything is all peachy now but the truth is I am still learning this. There are days when I still drive myself crazy with my "perfectionist" syndrome. Then I'll stop and say, "what am I doing? Is this really worth the extra stress?" And 9 times out of 10 the answer is no.

I have learned...

that you cannot plan for everything. My mom shared this sentiment with me this morning. It's funny because it's something that my husband and I talk about constantly. The minute we start planning our lives and what we want to do even as early as tomorrow something happens to show us just how unrealistic it is to plan everything.

So why is this an important lesson for mothers? Ask any new mother and she will tell you that having a baby changes everything. Not only are you now responsible for another person every second of the day but you will easily realize just how much your day-to-day changes. Now try to plan every minute of each day and see how much having a baby makes that challenging. Don't look at it in a negative aspect, I am not saying all this to make you think having a baby is bad.

IMO, babies/children are truly blessings from God and we should all treat them as such. They are precious gifts. With that said all I'm trying to tell you is that when you have a baby, you will quickly find out how hard it is to stick to a plan. Babies have a way of throwing everything off schedule, especially when they are newborns. Like I said earlier this is not necessarily bad.

When things don't happen the way we planned them it allows for a learning experience. No matter how much you think you know about any subject, you will find that learning doesn't stop happening; especially when you think you are too old to learn something. Remember that old adage, "you are never too old to learn something new."



I guess what it really comes down to is this: stop trying to plan your life and just live your life. Things will happen that are out of your control and in the end it will shape your character. You will be better for it. Always remember that ultimately God is in control. Embrace each new day. Set smart daily goals but never ever expect everything to go the way you planned it.

Here's a picture of our family of 5: