A House of Cards

By: Samantha S. Daviss

So my ship is run pretty tightly as it is, and I don’t mean I am not spontaneous, I just mean I am really organized and have a calendar that I live by to keep up with the kids’ activities, my work, and other work outside of my primary job.

But I am the first to hang out with friends, have people over, break the schedule a little bit; that’s not what I mean by a tight ship. I just mean that pretty much every minute in my day is accounted for months before I even come to that day. And it seems to be getting worse and worse. I don’t know if it is because summer is getting near and sports are picking up or what, but things have been crazy lately.

And just this past week I was down for a couple days with the stomach bug. So much so that I was planning to do some work from my bed, but that never happened. I actually slept all day trying to let me body recuperate. But in that amount of time, just 24 hours mind you, I felt like my entire world came crashing down; I had to find help putting my kids in bed since I was so sick, I had to arrange for rides to practices and activities, I had to make arrangements for dinner…everything had to be handled.

And it made me stop and think for a minute how insane my life really is on a daily basis. I can’t even disappear for a day without having to line my life up like a House of cards. If even one card is missing or out of place the entire thing will come crashing down. It actually exhausted me thinking about all of my responsibilities and when and where I am needed all the time.

Things have been a little tougher lately since my husband has been gone for so long training for his new job, but it just struck me as ridiculous as to how tightly strung my life really is.

I am not really sure how to change this either. I know most people’s lives are this crazy and this hectic nowadays, but why? Why do we live so fast and furiously? Why do we live without a moments breathe in our lives? Is it because of technology? Is it because we are putting more pressures on ourselves and our kids?

When I was growing up I remember going to various activities, but I don’t remember feeling so rushed and pressured all of the time. So why is it that a mommy can’t be sick, even for 24 hours, without her entire house falling apart?

I felt so hopeless and useless not being able to manage or help out with my kids for that 24 hours, but there was nothing I could do about it. So with this I am learning to enjoy the quiet down times we do have as a family. Instead of trying to create more activities and places to be, I have enacted a new rule in our house, and that is to learn to chill and relax and soak up the quiet down times we are given.

And for the obvious reasons. I know one day all the sports will be over, all the sleep overs won’t exist, the army men in the floor won’t be there for me to step on in the dark, and the chaotic mornings of trying to get to school on time will be things of the past. And to sit and think about that breaks my heart, so I need to learn to slow down, enjoy every moment and not try to keep up with “The Jones”.