My M.O.M. Badge

I used to think that “MOM” stood for Master Of Multitasking. I considered it a badge of honor that I got to wear thanks to my ability to handle no less than two things at a time most of the time.When I had my first baby, I dove right into living up to my multi-tasking role. With a type A personality and what was essentially a never-ending To Do List, I was often doing more than one thing at a time. Feeding a baby while doing household tasks, working on one of our many home renovation projects while catching up on TV shows, running as many errands as I could on my lunch break and squeezing in some personal projects so I could cross things off of my To Do List were some of the activities that I participated in as a M.O.M.When baby number two arrived just 16 months later, my version of multi-tasking began to transform. I was now juggling all of the above while also taking care of another baby. The added challenge of “don’t let the toddler give anything to the infant” made my role circus-like at times.  Attempts at crossing items off of the To Do List began to fade but if I decided sleep wasn’t a priority, I could make progress on that list. The mornings after those limited-sleep nights always made for fun the next day when I put back on my “Boss-Employee-Coworker” hat and attempted to accomplish that day’s responsibilities with the sleep bank running low.  But I was still wearing my badge...Years later when baby number three arrived, my life became more of a multi-tasking marathon. I felt like I was always doing at least two things at once and I always had at least two conversations going on at once (some of which only involved crying and giggling from the other party). My brain was overloaded and it was not pretty. While I know I was busy being mama bird, changing diapers, leading meetings at work, making dinner, doing laundry and what seemed like a million other things throughout the course of my day, everything I was doing was a blur.And this is when the discontent began to surface. I finally began to realize that my life couldn’t continue on like this.What I once felt deserved a badge of honor, had resulted in an overwhelmed, tired and anxiety ridden individual who was not doing any of the above things well or with joy.I was grateful for my babies and the blessings in my life, but the pace at which I was moving through my days was not healthy. I was tired. And frustrated. And just plain worn out. It was time for a change. A change that didn’t portray multi-tasking as a badge of honor, but instead simply allowed me to be a “MOM” without the acronym.It was time to stop trying to do it all. And to stop trying to do it all at once. It was time to begin saying “No” to more and “Yes” to less.If you’re a mom and you’re tired and you’re trying to do it all, I urge you to take a look at the badge you’re wearing. If one of the letters stands for “multi-tasking,” maybe it’s time to let go of that one. And trust me, when you give it up, you’re really not giving up anything. Instead, you’re gaining more than you can imagine. The physical, mental and emotional space that you’ll create will make you proud to just be “MOM.”To Simplicity & Joy,Lisa