I was going to write about all these lessons I learned from Blissdom Canada. How attending a panel on monetizing your blog made me realize I don't want to monetize Speed Skating Mom. How inspired I was by people I admire.
But then I had my book club last night. It was small, only three people showed up. The rainy, windy weather wasn't condusive to going out. If book club wasn't being held at my house, I wouldn't have come either. These are my in-real-life friends. They are the women who helped me through post partum depression and who give me real hugs, not virtual ones. Although I appreciate both.
And they have no idea what twitter is or that a conference like Blissdom Canada even existed.
Because of my job, I live in an online world and I sometimes forget that there are women who don't. I forget that there are moms who use facebook to keep in touch with family and not as a platform to showcase their talents or business, or who simply pick up a phone when they want to chat instead of hopping on twitter to say hello. They don't write blogs, they don't sit in front of a computer screen all day, and when I tell them about Blissdom Canada, they have to ask what it is. We talk so much about our online community while our offline readers are rarely mentioned.
I need to stop forgetting.
Because you are the moms who are taking time from your busy day to come read my words.
And that is a privilege I should never take for granted.
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You’re juggling right now, aren’t you? Not in a circus-like way with balls or flaming batons but real life juggling - your family, your friends....maybe work too. You’re trying to keep on top of the laundry while helping your kids with homework. You’re changing a diaper while on hold with the doctor’s office. You’re cooking, cleaning, chauffeuring.
Balancing.
Moms: How You Can Be More Balanced Than A Trained Athlete
Or at least trying.
There’s always so much to do and it seems near impossible to keep on top of everything. Like so many moms across the country, you’re probably wishing, hoping, praying for less on your plate.
But I believe you should have more.
Before you roll your eyes and leave, just hear me out.
A year ago I had disconnected from life and felt very lost, like somebody clicked a switch and I had started only going through the motions. And then I found speed skating. To say it was stepping outside my comfort zone is an understatement. Even though I completely sucked at it (and by sucked I mean I spent the entire first session just trying to stay upright), the feeling it gave me was, and is, indescribable. The only drawback? My sessions are late at night. At 10:00, to be exact.
That’s typically the time I go to bed.
But each week I put aside my tiredness and any excuses I could come up with and went. Why?
Because I needed more time for me.
At some point during the past few years, I had disconnected from life because I was so busy making sure everyone else was happy and fulfilled, I completely forgot about myself. To the point that I was no longer making anyone else feel happy and fulfilled because I was so disconnected. So I made the active decision to make more time for me. Even though the late night sessions aren’t ideal for this early riser, what it’s done for me mentally is well worth a few blurry eyed mornings and the extra coffee it takes to get me going. Because I’m important.
20 Things You Can Do To Feel Good About Yourself Right Now
It doesn’t have to be speed skating. It doesn’t have to be late at night. But what you need to do RIGHT NOW is set aside more time for you. There needs to be more “me-time” in your life. You need to make the effort to put aside time for yourself and do what inspires you. What that is, is up to you. It can be reading a book, hanging out with girlfriends, taking a bubble bath, cooking, knitting, climbing Mt. Everest….whatever it is that lights your fire, you need to do more of it.
If you are so involved and busy doing for everyone else and what they need, you are doing less for yourself. And you deserve just as much as everyone else.
In fact, you deserve more.
We moved into the house we're currently living in 3 1/2 years ago. While I love it, the one thing that bums me out is that our basement isn't finished. We had finished the basement in our old semi-detached and having that extra room where the boys could hang out and play was beyond fantastic. Not to mention it kept the mess on the other floors of our house to a minimum.
Relatively speaking, of course.
Currently our family room is on the second floor and as the name suggests, it's where we spend most of our time. Since my husband and I are prone to bouts of genius every once in a blue moon, we decided to buy a huge couch in an easily "hide the stains" colour. The couch is 11 feet long. Literally, my husband and I can lie on each end and not touch each other.
It's awesome.
So you'd think that with a couch this large, seating in the family room wouldn't be a problem for a family of four.
Right.
He's touching me. He got a blanket and I didn't. Stop putting your feet on me. Why does he get to sit beside daddy?
You get the picture.
So when BeanBagBoss offered to give me one of their chairs to try out, I was all over it. They have over 100 fabric styles and colours to choose from - but I fell in love with this funky cityscape (see 'hide the stains' colour above).
A few days later the bean bag chair arrived. I brought it upstairs to surprise the kids when they got home from school and surprised they were. They literally fought over it - but one timeout and a family meeting about sharing, got us back on track again.
I didn't want to write about the bean bag chair until we had used it for a few weeks because I'm a bit of a cynic. I know my kids and while they'll often be completely enthralled with something new because it's, you know, new, oftentimes when the new wears off it gets tossed aside and forgotten about. Meaning, I was totally expecting to have to give up my newly found space on the couch.
I'm happy to say, the bean bag chair is used in our house Every. Single. Day. The boys mold it into the shape they like to sit and watch tv or they lie on it with blankets like they're camping. They've even been joined by their parents a few times. Although they get mad when we put our feet on them.
And look! It's a miracle. They're shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaring.
So what does all of this have to do with having an unfinished basement? We're finally *claps hands excitedly* going to finish it this winter. The boys are getting older and it'll be nice for them to have a place to hang with their friends. I love the idea of having a couple of bean bag chairs for seating so I'll be ordering another once the reno is done.
If you're interested in buying a Bean Bag Boss Chair for yourself, they've given our readers a special coupon code for $10.00 off (one use per purchase). Use: YummyMummy-999. Offer expires December 01, 2011.
Oh, by the way....wanna know what's almost as much fun for the kids as the bean bag chair itself?
The box it comes in.
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