Lifetime Moms

Take the kids to school, go to work, go to meetings, decide what’s for dinner.  Don’t forget soccer practice, pick up cookies for tomorrow’s party, cook dinner, wash clothes, wash dishes, wash kids, go to bed and oh yeah breath.

If this sounds like a typical day for you then you are yet another busy mom. I know I was sucked into being a busy mom, heck the name of my blog is Bizzie Mommy, so much that I realized I’m not accomplish ANYTHING.

Lately there has been a lot of chatter about busy moms. There was an article in the Washington Post about an editor/mother trying to determine where all of her time was going. She even enlisted in the help of John Robinson a sociologist at the University of Maryland who claimed that moms have 30 hours of leisure time every week. He claims that finding "leisure time" is an act of will.

I read another post written by Michele Dortch at The Integrated Mother, "Why are you so busy?" hit home when she wrote, "In the workplace, busyness is like a badge of self-importance as we run around with our hair on fire, rushing from meeting to meeting, deadline to deadline, etc… At home we believe our busyness is accomplishing something meaningful as we rush our kids to extra curricular activities or busy ourselves with endless housework."

Busyness seems to go with being a mom, it’s what we do. But does it really have to be that way. I’ve spent the last year attempting to balance a full-time job, an online store, a blog and a family and I "loved" being busy. I was doing it all and proud of it. But what I didn’t realize is the busyness behind "doing-it-all" was stressing me out, I was stressed out all the time, I was sick more than usual, and worst of all I felt guilty for not spending enough time with my kids.

Last year I was so caught up, like so many others, in busyness that I lost my ability to even imagine what true leisure is like. I can’t even remember a time when I was "truly" productive. But this year I’m changing my focus.

This year I’m going to give myself some time, set realistic goals, take on fewer projects, and most importantly enjoy my family and find some time for me.

Won’t you join me in letting go of busyness and reconnect to find some leisure time for yourself?

"Simplicity, clarity, singleness: these are the attributes that give our lives power and vividness and joy." - Richard Halloway