Enjoy 2017

In the blogging world, choosing a word to focus on, rather than a resolution, is the thing to do in the new year.  Last year, I chose to relax.  Who knows if I did a good job of following through with that.  Some days were probably worse than others, but relaxing can be hard given my control-freak personality.  Anyway, I was unsure of whether or not I would choose a word again this year.  Until the other day when I was driving home from Target and heard Luke Bryan's new song Fast.  Here's the chorus:

Sixty seconds now feels more like thirty
Tick-tock, won't stop, around it goes
Sand through the glass sure falls in a hurry
All you keep trying to do is slow it down, soak it in
You're trying to make the good times last as long as you can
But you can't, man
It just goes too fast

Given three young boys, a newborn included, this song really spoke to me.  Life can be so busy and exhausting and frustrating and stressful.  But in all honesty, and as Luke sings, it goes fast.  Too fast.  

So it was at that very moment that I decided, yep I'll choose a word and my word couldn't have been more clear.  In 2017, I want to enjoy.

As far as I'm concerned, our family is now complete after the arrival of Rhett.  This is our last time to enjoy having a newborn in the house.  I want to enjoy the newborn snuggles, enjoy his little expressions, and enjoy even those sweet, little baby cries.  Because as life has proven, babies definitely don't keep.

As for the big kids, I want to enjoy their ages, as well.  Their messes, their innocence, and their love for one another.  These ages can be frustrating, no joke, but I want to make sure to enjoy the little things.  Because let's be honest, the days can be long, but the years, well they are definitely short and this stage of life is fleeting.  Soon, we will wish we were still reading books at bedtime and spending our evenings however we want--instead of focusing on homework and all things school-related.  I want to enjoy while I can, before I look back with regret.

Some days I reflect on my life and wonder how I got so lucky.  I found my prince charming, work in a career that gives me summers off, live in a nice house, and have not one, but three happy and healthy children - a lot to enjoy, for sure!  So this year, I want to do just that.

I'll leave you with the song that prompted my word.  And this year, I hope you take some time to enjoy, as well!

Remember to Relax

Picking one word to focus on for 2016 is all the rage right now.  Which is great because I've never been one for resolutions.

As I started thinking about my "word" for this new year, I knew it had to be centered around my children.  At 1- and 3-years old, they are more difficult now than ever before.  They both whine.  They fight.  They pester each other.  They deliberately disobey.  The dump containers of toys just to dump containers of toys.  They're messy.  They're sloppy.  They're needy.  And at any given time, there are no fewer than 18 balls, 29 army men, 24 puzzle pieces, and 49 matchbox bars scattering our floors.  For me, this current stage of parenting has been the most challenging.  I find myself cringing over their choices and frustrated with their actions more often than not.  I become stressed easily and roll my eyes whenever there's "another mess" to clean.  

But then I remember, they. are. boys.  And young ones at that.  It's in their nature.  They're learning.  And discovering.  And playing.  Which is all I could hope for at this age.

I knew I needed a word to help me cope with this crazy stage of their lives and mine.  I tossed around the words calm, embrace {the craziness}, peace, and appreciate.  But none of them seemed quite right.  Instead, I just kept coming back to this one, short, five-letter word.

Relax.

I definitely don't mean relax in the sense of messages every other week or a trip to the beach.  (Although, wouldn't that be nice?!)  Instead, I want to relax my nerves and relax my expectations when it comes to my kids.  In a sense, I simply want to let them be kids.

Merriam Webster defines the word as follows:

: to become less severe or strict

: to become calm and free from stress

: to seek enjoyment

That is the kind of relax I'm talking about.
 

It's not going to be easy for me.  It's hard to relax when two little ones are fighting over the same darn bouncy ball fives time per day...especially when we have seven others that are identical.  It's hard to relax when driving down the interstate at 75mph and Brantley is whining about a dropped toy.  It's hard to relax when Holden shoves his plate of food onto the floor...for the second time that week.  It's hard to relax when there are toys scattered all across the kitchen, living room, and dining room floors.  It's hard to relax in this day and age period, and it's especially hard to relax with two young boys only 21 months apart.

Just last night, I saw on Facebook a statistic that really struck a chord.  Parents have only 936 weeks between a child's birth and graduation.  I'm already approximately 182 (Brantley) and 46 (Holden) weeks deep in that time frame.  Does it really matter if they're fighting over a bouncy ball?  Is it worth stressing when there are toys cluttering our floors?  Is it too much of a hassle to clean yet another mess?  No.  The answer is no.  And that is why I'm focusing on the word relax.

It may not be easy for this type-A, control freak of a mama, but I'm going to do my best.  Because that's what "resolutions" are all about, right?