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I have been compensated by ZonePerfect for this post; however, I am sharing my own thoughts. All opinions are my own.
They say your life changes when you have kids and that’s true. But I hadn’t felt the change as dramatically as I did this year, when my daughter, Maddilyn, started first grade. Coinciding with the birth of my son Oliver, this year served as the catalyst that turned me from travel mom to soccer mom - in every sense we imagine that word to mean.
It’s being a member of the PTA, volunteering in the classroom, hosting brunches for fellow military spouses, mommy & me classes, 4 hours of dance, two hours of soccer, games on saturday’s and a partridge in a pear tree.
In what feels like the blink of an eye my life has done a 180. I thought I was busy before, but I didn’t know the meaning of the word. Don’t get me wrong - there are days of the week that I purposely keep plan free. I guard our Mondays and Thursdays with steel armor. Our Sundays are for family time. But the other days, those days are a finely choreographed dance that if not executed just so, tumble like a house of cards into a puddle of tears, tantrums and meltdowns - oh and the kids throw fits too.
This year, more than ever I’ve been trying hard to stick to schedules and routines. To find balance in the chaos. To keep us from being an over-scheduled, tired, hangry family. To keep momzilla locked in the closet. It’s the last one I struggle with most. Finding balance for myself seems hardest of all.
There are times where deadlines pass by without even the slightest nudge to my memory. Other days I spend with my eyes glued to the computer furiously working through breakfast and lunch. Still others where I look up from a litter of junk food wrappers on my desk to realize I just wasted an hour of my life watching a cat ride a vacuum.
Those days make me feel the worst. They make me feel unbalanced and off center. Guilty. My best of intentions to find balance drowned in a bottle of cola and snacking accidents. So I’m trying to turn it all around. I found a gym with a daycare facility. I bought myself the cutest planner that I actually find myself using. I aim to work purposefully when I do work so I can spend more time with the ones who matter. And I’ve been stopping those snacking accidents before they happen.
Sticking to a schedule helps, so does keeping around protein packed snacks like ZonePerfect bars from Walmart. They help keep the hangries at bay (and thus momzilla) with a whopping 15g of protein and let me celebrate the #LittleWins when I make a good choice.
I picked them up at Walmart during my regular grocery shopping and I try to keep them in sight on my desk so I don’t even need to think about what to reach for.
Mind over matter. Mind over matter. I’ll keep saying it until it sticks.
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