Doing v. Being

So ... this morning I had a little epiphany. In the shower, where I have most of my epiphanies. :) As I thought about the day ahead and looked around at my semi-scuzzy shower, I started thinking ... when am I going to get this shower cleaned? What will I do to keep the kids busy? How am I going to do this, that and the other, etc? Then I thought to myself ... Why am I trying to DO stuff right now?

Of course, I like to feel like my house is semi-neat, and that I have a shred of control over my surroundings. But as I gave my situation more thought, I almost started giggling with glee, because the truth is this: When you have a newborn, people expect nothing from you. NOTHING. When people see me, they don't expect my hair to be done, my clothes to be clean or my face to be made up. When people come to visit, they don't expect my house to be clean, or the toys to be put away, or the dishes to be clean and out of sight. When Chad comes home, he doesn't expect a nice hot meal on the table, or the bed to be made, or the house to be in order. (Not that he "expects" these things to be done but I usually try to have this much accomplished in a day.) On top of it, people don't expect my kids to be spit-shiny neat and clean either. They don't even expect my kids to have great behavior because they are, of course, "adjusting to all the changes."

So the beauty is that anything I actually do accomplish is icing on the cake right now. So I decided - why not seize this time and actually enjoy it rather than stressing out about what is NOT "done"... and just "be" with baby Chloe and the rest of the family? How about I just enjoy all the down time I spend sitting around nursing? How about I just play with the kids and not try to get massive amounts of laundry done?

So that's what I'm doing, or "accomplishing" today. I held my baby girl, the last baby I anticipate ever having, and looked her in the eye and cooed at her. I played tea party with Audrey. I cuddled Carter on the sofa while I fed Chloe and he watched a Baby Einstein show. Of course, I also "did" a few things like cleaning out some old food in the back of the fridge, making the kids lunch, and putting a load of laundry in. I have even thought about what's for dinner tonight. But overall, for now, I am choosing to embrace this precious time in my life where the love is high, and the expectations are low.

Here are my four reasons why I do what I do ...

... and in case you're wondering, my 4th reason is Chad, not Audrey's stuffed animal sitting on the end of the couch. :)