Monday 1 August 2016

My sanity was scattered amongst the toys that littered the floor

Let it go, let it go...

Come on, you know the words!

My son could sing the words “let it go” before he could even talk… not kidding. Yes, his big sister was obsessed with frozen as all girls her age are, but more likely it was because we would sing those words (with just a touch of cruel sarcasm) whenever one of the kids had a tantrum about not being allowed to do/have something.

Last weekend I did an Elsa and just let it go.

I’ve been sick for weeks and SO SO tired. Post viral fatigue apparently.

Having done a stint of working full time whilst suffering a bout of tonsillitis followed by a horrible cough, my house was in a state. My lounge room was dotted with little piles of clothes every where - I summoned the energy to fold them, but not to actually carry them to the bedrooms. The floor had almost reached the point where our feet were leaving footprints in the dust (yes that has happened before… but in fairness we were getting renovations done…).

Suffice to say, I should have been doing house work.

Mr Busy wanted to take a road trip with the kids. I very nearly stayed home, but with a view to cleaning the house, rather than taking it easy. My sanity was scattered among the toys that littered the hallway.

However, at the last minute, I decided to let it go. After all, I’m pretty sure I became a parent to spend time with my kids rather than to be a cleaner. I bought a new car (and by new I mean old) several months ago and haven’t taken it for a good drive since. Scary - that means I haven’t been more than half an hour from my house (other than for work) for several months.

So, I slapped on my leaving the house face, and squished myself in the back of the car between the kids, because my mother in law joined us and I let her have the front seat (I'm so kind! But also the only one skinny enough to be jammed between the two kids' carseats).

I'll just put it out there that driving up the Gillies Range to the Atherton Tablelands (beautiful spot by the way!) jammed in a tiny gap between to car seats is not good for someone who gets car sick.

At that time I can assure you, I really wished that I had stayed home and done the housework. I wouldn’t be trying to keep my stomach in its correct spot and I’d actually be achieving something. 

I can say though, the once we reached our destination and my stomach stopped churning I knew that I’d made the right choice. It was a really beautiful day and the air up the tablelands was crisp. We took the kids to see the animal nursery and I loved seeing how proud and excited they were for patting the cows. I think we can learn a lot from kids. My daughter, Princess Sparkle, could not stop talking about how brave she was for patting the cow and happy she was that she’d been so brave. She didn’t hold it back, she wasn’t hard on herself for being worried about it, she was just happy that she did it. What a great way to approach life. If only we could look at those small brave things we do and say “hell yeah, that was scary and I did it and I’m super brave.”

The Gallo dairy has gorgeous food! Delicious lunch and really beautiful scenery. 

The cheeses and chocolate - I kid you not: divine!! I love high quality, handmade rocky road and there's was divine. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I'd do the vow-worthy squishy trip just for the chocolate. But I digress...

Here’s the best bit about the day: I came home with an outlook on life that was as fresh as the tablelands air. My house was just as grubby as it was before we left, but I stopped stressing out about it. The weekend isn't over yet and we had a great day. What could be more important than that?

So there you go. Sometimes, you need to just let it go and do something fun to remind yourself of why we are actually doing this and come back to your problems with a fresh outlook that makes them look far less problematic.

3 comments:

  1. You made it through it! YAY! Renovations are trying! We just remodeled most of the house! 2 people and 2 dogs in 2 rooms for 2 months. Ugh!

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  2. I don't love renos. They are messy and our house is old with lots of dodgey DIY jobs that have been done, so there is always a little unexpected "surprise"...

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  3. Love this. Something I need to do more often!

    "So there you go. Sometimes, you need to just let it go and do something fun to remind yourself of why we are actually doing this and come back to your problems with a fresh outlook that makes them look far less problematic."

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