Time Out

I am a busy mom.  This week, like every week, was filled with running everywhere, getting this kid that way, and that kid this way. Sports, school, homework, showers, pajamas, reading, cleaning...all after a monotonous day of work.

Only this week is PMS WEEK, which is a special type of crappy.  If you are able to read between the lines, you would have already figured out that I cried (honestly) 3 times this week...?  That sounds about right.

Every night while the kids are taking showers or winding down for the night after whatever nightly activity we had planned, I round the house and clean up everything that no one bothered to clean themselves.  I wipe down the counters, again. I put the throw pillows back on the couch, again.  And chip dried toothpaste off the bathroom counter...again.
After they go to bed, if I am able to rummage up a little bit of energy in my zombie-like state of exhaustion, I open up my textbooks to do some studying.  
Admission- I went to a counselor for a while last year to handle some anxiety issues, and she said something interesting, and it certainly plays into this life that I have.  She asked me if I am a control freak, and not wanting to admit that I am, I answered that I am not a control freak, but I like my routine.  
She said that I need to start taking some time to myself; not just BY myself, but to myself.  I am so routined and regimened that I am letting the world spin around me and I am not noticing.  So-- 

I started taking "Time Outs," and it has made me a better mom.  

My kids are growing up, and I have been missing a lot of it.  Sure, I am seeing milestones and am more than present in their lives, but I was never actually watching them grow.  I was too busy keeping the house clean or switching over laundry that I wasn't seeing what amazing little humans they have become. 
Now, in my Time Outs, I am making friendship bracelets with B, sitting on G's bed while he plays a video game, dancing in the living room while singing HORRIBLY off-key to Taylor Swift.  The couch pillows that are on the floor become safe because "The carpet is LAVA!  AND WE CAN'T STEP IN THE LAVA, MOMMA!"  
They are happy kids.  They are beautiful and perfect.  They are growing up and while I have been a good mom to them, there were so many little things that I did not see until I started taking Time Outs.  
My own homework is important, but it can wait.  I can do it later.  
When they are winding down for the night, I don't need to start my
cleaning.  The crumbs can wait a few minutes.  There are worse things that could be dried to the bathroom counters.  
Take a Time Out of daily life and just be present.  I am spinning with the world now, rather than letting it spin around me.  Time Outs have an amazing way of re-grounding you.  Take one.  You need it...even if you don't know it.

I am a busy mom...

Hey, what's up.  I'm Katie.  Nice to meet you.
I am a lot of things.  I am a chef, kleenex, sister, fashion coordinator (not by industry standards), Martha Stewart wanna-be, student, interior designer, doctor, mechanic, employee, wife, and most importantly, I am a mom.  I work, I study, I take care of my family.  I am a busy mom.
Caviat:  I am not a good mom.  Actually, I am a bad mom.  I would name this blog "Bad Mommy (dot) com" but I think that would give my ego too much of a boost.  I am the mom at the store who tells her kids "If you don't watch where you are going, and someone runs into you with their cart, I won't feel bad for you."  I am also the mom who tells her kids to "Suck it up, buttercup."  I am the mom that actually says the things that all moms are thinking in their lovely little Stepford Wives heads.
Ok, ok, I'm really NOT a bad mom.  I'm a cool mom.  I let my kids sleep in bed with me sometimes because I get lonely when my hubby is working 3rd shift.  I sneak my kids cookies out of the freezer when the other isn't looking (but I do it equally so they are both in on the "secret" cookie action).
I have 2 kids.  G is 10 going on whatever stage of puberty sucks the most.  He has a PhD in everything and isn't afraid to tell you how much he thinks he knows.  B is 7 and she is a delightful sort of privileged princess.
I am a busy mom.  I work full time, but my husband works, like, a million hours a week-- which by default means that I am obviously not the breadwinner of this home.  In between my bajillion things that I am doing with the kids, I am studying.  I got knocked up when I was in college, and moved home to be a mom.  Now that I'm married and have this freaking amazing life, its time to relive my college glory and finish up to get that overly expensive piece of paper with a pretty foil seal.  The difference is, being a non-traditional student means I can study with a beer in my hand while wearing pajamas.  I'm not always studying in my "free time."  Sometimes I'm napping.  I can't lie :)
I am a taxi cab.  My kids are busy, and I freaking love it.  2 kids, 6 sports, but a million different directions.  G is in Tae Kwon Do, Baseball, Basketball, and Band.  B is in Tae Kwon Do and on an Elite Cheerleading Team.
So that is me.  That is my life, and my family.  I am a busy mom, and this is my diary.