I got my Christmas tree half decorated. My two year old “helped” and you can imagine how productive that was! After getting everyone settled into bed way past their bedtime, I “fluffed” the things in the dryer for the 99th time and collapsed into bed before I could fold. I got up the next morning and got the kitchen half cleaned. Then I unloaded the dryer (finally) and realized everything in the washer needed to be re-washed (for obvious reasons) before setting that smell forever by drying those clothes.
These days it seems like I’m not able to do more than part of a job before the baby needs to be nursed or the next conference call or appointment. Quite frustrating for a “get it done” kind of girl like me.
This working mom, half-done, sleep-deprived state has FORCED me into living with “ish.” I tell my friends I will be at their house “five-ish”. I get the house “clean-ish” (aka: presentable enough) and lately my vacuum has been hanging out in my living room so that when I walk by it I can quickly spin around the house when inspiration strikes. There are hundreds of projects that need to be done in our new house, and I know they will get done soon-ish.
The bad thing about living with “ish” is that I am constantly disappointing my own standards of timeliness, cleanliness, and even organization (!) But that is also the good thing about living with “ish.” I am giving myself the grace to ACCEPT that for this season of life, I must do what I can when I can. I’m sacrificing my old standards so that I can put first things first.
Instead of seeing myself as a victim of “ish” (wherein I would feel mighty peeved that children and other “distractions” were causing this ishy-ness) I am choosing to accept “ish” and I’m daily trying to be content with the “undone.”
The tree is still half-decorated and Christmas is in one week. I’ve decided that it looks nice and less cluttered that way. 🙂
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- Learn more about Vicki and her family
