In Pursuit of Flexibility

This past week was CA-RAZY!  Between meetings, birthdays, group lessons, and a broken dryer, my normal household cleaning schedule was almost non-existent.  In the past, this would have driven me completely bonkers and I would have spent every day rushing to "catch up" on the previous day's chores.  Fortunately for me (and everyone else in my household), I decided about this time last year to choose grace over perfection.  Don't get me wrong, there is something very deep in me that loves perfection and wants to strive towards it.  It's a battle I frequently have to fight with myself. Occasionally, perfection wins.  More and more, however, it's grace that wins.

Eliot's First Ride on the Carousel!

While the desire for perfection has been in me for as long as I can remember, the true effects of striving towards it became very clear to me after we had been in our new home for about a year.  I would diligently clean all the floors by sweeping, vacuuming, and mopping them.  I would then sit back and just wait for someone to track something in from outside.  The anxiety that gripped me was crazy!  However, it was the anxiety that helped me see my idea of perfectionism was so out of wack: in my mind, if the floors were perfectly cleaned, then everyone would be happy because clean floors make everyone happy.  In reality, no one cared about the clean floors except for me and really it was just the idea of perfection that gave me the illusion of happiness.  What really made me happy was watching my children playing outside then welcoming them back inside with hugs and kisses.

Celebrating Fiona's Birthday at Mittie's Cafe on Main

So when our week turned topsy-turvy, I decided to embrace it along with all of the wonderful things the week brought.   I strongly believe that because I had firmly stuck to my cleaning schedule for several weeks, it really made the messes easier.  For instance, when our dryer broke towards the end of the week, we didn't run out of clean clothes!  I had stayed on top of our laundry schedule up until it broke, so pushing our next laundry day back until the dryer was fixed was no biggie.  Knowing that some weeks are going to be crazy and being flexible when those weeks come is so important to keeping a positive attitude and cheery spirit.  Sticking to your own chore schedule before and after those crazy weeks certainly helps as well.

SOOOO Excited for her Big-Girl Bike!

I would love to know- have you developed a chore schedule?  How to you handle crazy weeks?

ALWAYS make time for Gelato!