If you need permission to take a break - here it is

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

This last weekend, I took a day to read a novel that was over 400 pages long.

It was very rewarding.

I know it's crazy that with four children I would even try to read a book. Here's the deal: reading and creativity are not optional to me- they are necessities.

Nothing else in my life is ever done. The dishes are never ending, laundry accumulates faster than I can finish it, and as long as the children are awake, you can bet your bottom dollar they are somewhere making a mess – all good ones, I assure you. Messes are a sign we are healthy, and I'll take a messy house over a sanitized hospital room any day of the week.

However, constant busyness with nothing to show for it can make mom feel like a failure. This is where my books and art deliver a much-needed reprieve.

You see, there is something quite satisfying about turning the last page of a well-written novel. When I turn the last page, I have accomplished something.
It is done!
There is no more!
Unless I am reading a series, I have completed something!
This is a cause for great joy! (Cue applause here.)

It's the same with creativity.

If I can sit down for 15 minutes and write something beautiful, or fill a canvas with color, or create a lovely necklace for a friend to wear, there's a lot of joy in that. It gives me a feeling of accomplishment that housework probably never will. And that's okay.

I'm sure it's possible-somewhere in the distant future- I may get excited about scrubbing toilets, but for now that's not the stage I'm in.

For all my mommy friends, stop. Do something fun. Make something, read a book, write a poem, have tea and lemon scones in the afternoon while the dishes are still piled by the sink. It's OK. Do whatever restores your sanity, because sanity is a great thing to have when you're trying to parent Littles.

If you are a Type A person, and are appalled that I would leave dishes by the sink until the AFTERNOON! (gasp!) 

Please disregard this post.