So, where was my first step? I had, had the conversation in the kitchen with my husband, the cute little mouse was fast peddling it in his little reel in my brain and I wanted to make changes straight away but this time I really wantEd them to be actionable and sustainable.
In the past I would have gotten out sheets of paper and started brain dumping about it. My motivation would have been mostly through shame and guilt. Thoughts like I *need*, *should* and *have to* (I hate those triplets) would propel me forward for a very short time. The plans would eventually fail or lose their momentum because there was no good foundation behind them.
Discarded papers and my life and mind *seemed* frenetic.
Well, now some kids have woken up. I feel like my thoughts might become a bit disjointed but I’ll try to keep going.
I want to preface this by saying I *have always* had a schedule and we do have quite a tidy and a very organised house. I was more concerned with not feeling like I had any time to do anything beyond the basic schedule.
I felt like I didn’t have time to plan or properly teach all of the children (by law we don’t have to formally teach a child until the age of 6. We start at age 2).
Remember though; I was not trying to write a new schedule. I am forming new habits that are sustainable. A new way of life.
A new way of life doesn’t just happen. It comes from many deliberate steps towards the goal.
The first thing I did was go in ‘pages’ on my iPad and started typing out what I have shared in a previous post. Not a huge brain dump. Just the basic shell of how I wanted my day to go and the non negotiable things I needed to do each day but with strict times (James’ feeds, Leah’s nap time, lunch, walk, wake up time, bedtime etc, etc).
I will say that the first day……I felt VERY overwhelmed and was chasing that clock and the first night I slept REALLY well but by the next day things already felt WAY easier and I found more and more time and clarity as the days continued and I kept going with my plan.
