Balance.
All parents are searching for it. We are reading books, we are phoning a friend and we are hopeful that one day, with a click of our heels and some magical pixie dust we will attain the ultimate parenting goal, BALANCE...ahh, you can hear the harps playing can’t you?
Well SNAP OUT OF IT!
Balance does not exist but what does exist is a rhythm. Yes, the fine tunes to your everyday life with occasional changes in the tempo, and sometimes a different voice interceding. The rhythm does have occasional consistencies however, sometimes there is an occasional dip or heighten in the tune. Basically, this is how things go at home and in life. We have to digress from an attitude of searching for balance and instead become acquainted with the fine rhythms of our life.
To be honest, it's beautiful. Balance would be too boring and Lord forbids something throws off that scale! An unbalanced scale can result in becoming filled with anxiety and potentially the early stages of depression for some. Parenting (through college) is a rhythmic groove. It's important that we begin to cultivate an attitude of being comfortable with a rhythm and not an ideology that a balanced scale will exist.
So, trade those harps for the beat of drums or a couple EDM tracks because that is your new normal and it's perfectly OKAY! As moms (especially) we think that balance is our golden ticket to parenting perfection and unfortunately, that's why it doesn't exist. We are not perfect but we are caring, we are compassionate, we have fun, we cry, we are normal (sounds like a song you may know doesn't it?...see... RHYTHM).
When asked how do I balance it all, the answer is simple. I Don’t. I move with the grooves. I allocated blocks of time to get things done but it is not a balanced scale at all. As my family has grown, I have gotten comfortable with this idea of a rhythm and I believe it has saved me from having many meltdowns and disappointments as a parent. So, grab the scale and sit it on the shelf. Break out your stereo and let the rhythm move you through your parenting experience with Rhythmic Parenting!
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