At the start of 2018, I jumped on the “word of the year” bandwagon. I decided the word “intentional” was going to be my focus for the year. I wanted to be intentional about strengthening my marriage, intentional about sharing my faith, intentional about raising strong, independent problem solving kiddos and intentional about creating and maintaining my friendships. I quickly learned, being intentional wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be.
- Raise your hand if you’ve ever felt so exhausted the words coming out of your mouth made absolutely no sense.
- Have you ever felt like your body wasn’t actually YOUR body anymore since you had a beautiful little one literally sucking the energy out of you night and day?
- What about this, you give 110% all day to your littles while forgetting that you have wants and needs as well? Hello, it’s noon and you forgot to eat breakfast and your coffee is still in the microwave waiting for its 4th reheat…
Do any of these scenarios sound familiar to you? If so, you must be in the thick of parenting littles. Living intentionally seems nearly impossible at this stage of life.
My littles (5, 2 and 3.5 months) are my absolute pride and joy. They are my why. However, they can drain my energy quicker than it takes to read Moo, Baa, Lalala…
My boys have these amazing clocks, Okay to Wake. They turn green when they are allowed to get out of bed. So, come 6:40am, I better be ready for the stampede of tiny feet heading my way with empty tummies and a full nights rest on board!
Since I’ve been momming for 5 whole years (goodness, I can’t believe he’s 5!), I’ve learned something HUGE about myself. If I take 5 minutes, just 5 little minutes, and hop in the shower in the morning, I feel like I can conquer anything, even living with more intention! I’ve also learned, if I decide to sleep right up until those little ones are hopping out of bed, I am drowsy and dragging all. day. long.
Since adding a third little blessing into our lives, I’ve struggled to give myself those 5 minutes before the chaos of the day begins. Sometimes, I’m up feeding her at 5am, so I have no energy to get back up at 6 just to shower. I neglect to realize the importance of those 5 minutes. Those days are tough. Very tough. I’m short with my kiddos, I “need” caffeine to get me going, and I’m just so sluggish.
What do I do to make those 5 minutes a day changer for me?
- I take deep breaths. I just stand there under the hottest water I can handle and deep breathe.
- Then, I pray. I pray, pray, pray. Every time I tell someone “I’ll pray for you”, this is when it typically happens.
- I do a lot of self-talk on how I’m going to handle the day. There were frustrating situations with my kiddos from the previous day, and I talk myself through how to better handle these situations. This has been huge for my outlook on the day.
Taking a shower every morning isn’t just about waking myself up or having clean hair to work with. It’s about altering my mindset for the day. It’s about being more intentional with how I am approaching my day.
What are some tips and tricks you’ve incorporated into your day or week to live with more intention?
