Have you seen the popular memes going around social media? They go something like this:
Pick 2 — clean house, happy kids, spicy marriage, vegetables in your fridge, etc.
Some don’t even give you 2 choices! Pick 1 — happy kids, happy husband, clean house.
While I definitely see the humor in these, I also find them hitting a little bit too close to home for me. When I ask myself, “are the kids eating healthy meals? Are my kids happy? Is my husband happy? Is my house or car clean?” I always find myself saying “no” to at least one of those, if not more. I am your typical perfectionist Enneagram 1 mama. I want to do it all, and I want it all to be perfectly executed. But guess what? I LIVE WITH HUMANS, AND ONE OF THOSE HUMANS IS ME! So annoying, right?! HA.
The unhealthiest mental and physical state I have ever been in was last spring when I was trying to say yes to way too many things. I lived in my car, spent too much money on take-out and gas, and had unhappy kids who didn’t know how to behave when we had a slow day at home because they almost never had downtime.
But, I was patting myself on the back that I was such a good mom because of all the things I had my kids doing. But when I took a step back it was easy to see that we were not thriving. I was burnt out and exhausted and so were my kids.
It was then that I was reminded of the truth in those funny memes. Pick 3. That was exactly what I needed to do. Did my kids need to be in all these activities? Did my house need to be perfectly clean? Maybe mealtime as a family was something we needed to make more of a priority in our home.
I realized that I can’t do it all, and that’s perfectly okay.
What 3 things matter the most to you? Maybe it’s meals, or being the homeroom mom in your child’s class. Maybe it’s the clean house or enrolling your child in ballet. It’s probably going to be different than your best friend’s 3 things. As mamas, I think that is hard because we all play the comparison game! But I encourage you to pick your 3 things and see how your mental state, physical health, and home life improve – especially if you are a mama who tries to do it all!
