“Even the best laid plans of mice and men/ oft go awry.” – John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, 1937
Anyone else have a tough week coming up??
The way this week is scheduled, I feel trepidation similar to what I imagine it must feel like before “The Gauntlet” episode from one of those reality T.V. shows (I can almost hear the terrible music cuing up now).
Between my hubby and I we both have early mornings, late nights, council meetings, school functions, staff issues, and night shifts- it’s a scheduling Olympics. As a wife, mom, employee, and friend, I tried to prepare in every way possible for this week. Meals are prepped, kid bedtimes/handoffs between hubby and I are scheduled, meetings are scheduled with times blocked, new office space set up as much as possible, phone dates scheduled. My loved ones put up with an awful lot of scheduling.
Yet even with the best planning, some things fall through the cracks. It’s going to be absolutely crazy. As much as my Type A side wants it- this week will not go as planned. In addition to the extra scheduled events, there are going to be unexpected things cropping up, unforeseen events. This usually centers around the kids, such as a meltdown because there are no green socks, someone wanted almond butter rather than peanut butter, and so on. There are some days when I am jealous of my hubby’s early morning shifts: he gets up, gets dressed, and goes straight to work. How peaceful it must be, without my haranguing the children to “get dressed, mommy’s late,” or packing of the backpacks with approximately one million items that must not be forgotten (lest I suffer a disapproving tone of admonishment from teachers), or even the coordination of everyone’s meals/morning routine (dogs included).
It’s enough that I feel that same trepidation here, on what would otherwise be a normal Sunday night.
I don’t think I am the only one.
Women: how much additional psychological stress do we endure in our nurturing roles? It’s immeasurable- but we feel it. It adds up over days, weeks, months, and years. There was an interesting article in Huffington Post last summer about this additional psychological burden, here. We wouldn’t trade our lives, but we are exhausted.
For this reason, it’s important to learn flexibility. Even the best laid plans will often go awry- written many, many years ago, but still holds true today. To the best of my ability, I am going to attempt flexibility this week: expect that there will be detours this week. Whether on vacation, staying home, parenting, working, or whatever: remember that the tasks we complete in each day are many more than what is written in our planners. Give yourself permission to be flexible, and be kind when things go awry.
xoxo