Let's Stop The World

We firmly believe in slowing down. Before meeting George, I was used to going here and there and getting there on time. After all, I only had one of me to take care of. However, when I met George, he definitely walked to a different drummer. Why do we have to do so many things? Why can't we just veg at home and see what comes up? So I did have some practice with this way of thinking before Rachel came along and it's really saved our sanity.

When I found that I was rushing about and getting more stressed by the second, I stopped. Okay, what did we *have* to do? Sometimes it was okay to be 10 minutes late. No one is going to die. Sometimes I didn't have to do everything on my list. I also made sure I had plenty of time to get ready. You should've seen me when Rachel was a baby. It took me 3 HOURS to get us both ready and out of the house. May sound lame, but we are a pretty calm household.

I also noticed that when my temper got short, Rachel got more upset and the whole thing just escalated. I make sure to keep my stress level low. We just don't plan very many activities. Being in LA, we would love to do everything, but we've decided that we just can't. We've prioritized what is important to our family and if we have to say no, so be it.

To this day (Rachel is 5), I try to accomodate her drummer. Yeah, if she would just get her shirt and pants on, we could be out of the house in 15 minutes. But, really, what's wrong with slowing down? I've discovered that if I just take 3 minutes to sit and breathe and be with my child, she is more than ready to get to the next task.

She goes to kindergarten now and I know that she could get dressed, eat breakfast, and I can do her hair within an hour. But when I take her to school, I wake her up about 90 minutes before school starts. We take our time and I don't rush her. It may seem like an eternity to you, but does it really matter if she puts on her shirt now or in 2 minutes? Those 2 minutes can make all the difference in the world.

And I always take the opportunity to just hug my baby for five minutes. At least once a day. (Works great for hubbies, too!)