\nIt would just be rude to ignore the sun\u2019s beckoning. Plan time to get outside each day and soak up that vitamin D.<\/p>\n
Wake up earlier and take a walk around the block. Enjoy some solitude before the chaos commences. Eat that fast food dinner on a blanket in the front yard \u2013 a picnic makes clean up a breeze! Text your neighbors and meet at the park before bed; it\u2019s a perfect excuse to quell your kiddos\u2019 last sparks of energy before settling in for the night.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ll never regret delaying that load of laundry for a few moments of fresh air. Make it a priority.<\/p>\n
Give yourself a timeout <\/strong> Isn\u2019t it the same for us? We should take his lead.<\/p>\n Tell your kids, \u201cMom needs a break.\u201d Walk to your room, turn off the lights and close the door for a few quiet minutes. Gather yourself before heading back into the crazy zone. (A good cry might also be cathartic. I won\u2019t tell, if you won\u2019t.)<\/p>\n Just say no<\/strong> Yes, I understand your son\u2019s class needs water for their end of the year party. Great. Do that. But don\u2019t also create the game for the first grader\u2019s class, a craft for the two-year-old and homemade favors for the kindergarteners, while offering to walk your neighbor\u2019s dog and prepare dinner.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s agree not to compare ourselves and to remember our limits. It\u2019s OK NOT to do it all. It\u2019s not worth stealing our joy.<\/p>\n Breathe<\/strong> Only God can sustain our families. We can\u2019t control it all.<\/p>\n So, breathe. Breathe in God\u2019s daily grace, those sticky fingers and barefoot toes. Breathe out the lie that a \u201cgood\u201d mom can do it all (a better mom chooses less!). Breathe in the slowness, remembering to be present in that single moment. Breathe out the hurry. Let tomorrow worry about itself. Breathe deep. You\u2019ve got this.<\/p>\n If all else fails, pray. As Brother Lawrence says, \u201cOne need not cry out very loudly; he is nearer than we think.\u201d<\/p>\n Solidarity, Mama! We\u2019re never alone.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n May is a bit of a tease, isn\u2019t it? It marks the end of spring, the rain has slowed but the warmth is here to stay. The lengthening days are plentiful with sunshine. The sun is always alluring me to come and enjoy. But those long days are not yet filled with the slowness of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":309,"featured_media":7646,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"0","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[354,1556,1557,639,1558,1559,56,1560,818,1561],"class_list":["post-7640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-breathe","tag-class-parties","tag-end-of-school-year","tag-god","tag-graduation","tag-may","tag-motherhood","tag-pandemonium","tag-season","tag-timeout"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themom.co\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themom.co\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themom.co\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themom.co\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/309"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themom.co\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.themom.co\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7640\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themom.co\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themom.co\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themom.co\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nFor my anxious son, it\u2019s a sign of growth and his emotional maturity when he acknowledges things are overwhelming. On the good days he\u2019ll confess, \u201cMom, I need a break.\u201d (If he doesn\u2019t give himself a timeout, a tantrum is inevitable and the time out will be forced.)<\/p>\n
\nWe all learned this one in high school. It applied to red ribbon week back then, but our new drug of choice is perfection. We cannot be all the things for all of the people. (This is the one I find most difficult to apply!)<\/p>\n
\nMama, you\u2019re doing a great job! These are those days we\u2019ll look back on and miss. Our season might be difficult, but it\u2019s also beautiful. God has created this family for you, and you for them. It\u2019s designed to be enjoyed.<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.mops.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/shannon-262x300.jpg\")
Shannon J. Smith writes sporadically and shares her favorite internet finds at shannonjensmith.wordpress.com<\/a>. Most often, she can be found chasing around her four precious and crazy littles, advocating for her marginalized neighbors, and championing her husband\u2019s good work. To say \u201cHi,\u201d stop by her Instagram @shanjensmith<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"