I Let Everything Go… and Here’s What Happened (Spring Break Reality)

Transcript

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Hey guys, welcome back to Family Simple. I'm Crystal, your host, and today we are just having a real conversation. Because wow, the last few weeks over here, absolute chaos. Okay, so let me tell you what happened. Before spring break even started, my husband left for 12 days to California. And let's just talk about the reality of that for a second. Because that's not just like, oh he's gone, we miss him. That's me do everything. I'm driving to two different schools, dropping off, picking up, I'm leaving the house at seven in the morning and not getting back until nine, having just enough time to maybe do a couple things, and then turning right back around and picking everyone up again. It's packing all the lunches, making all the breakfasts, making all the dinners, keeping everyone on track. And normally, Aaron is home to help me with all of that. So when he's gone, it's a lot. Single parenting is no joke. And honestly, shout out to all the single parents, you rock. Because doing that day in and day out, that's a whole different level. So that's how we started. Already stretched, already a little out of rhythm, and then spring break hits. Except not just spring break, because in our house we had two spring breaks. Middle school and high school one week and elementary another week. So instead of one nice reset, we had two straight weeks of kids home. And this is where I get myself in trouble. Because the second that Erin walks in the door, my brain goes, Oh, we're on vacation now. Like we should all just sit, hang out, be together, don't pick anything up, don't worry about the house. And honestly, that feels so good for like a day. Because here's what actually happens. While I'm on vacation, everything else is not. The dishes, still happening, the laundry, still happening, the clutter, definitely multiplying, and I can literally feel the shift happen. At first I'm relaxed, and then I'm like, oh my goodness, wait, why does this feel so stressful? And then I'm walking around like, why is everything everywhere? It is like a cyclone had hit my house. And it hit me this week so clearly. The chaos in our homes, it does not stay in our homes, it goes straight to our mind. Because what starts as I'm going to relax turned into I'm completely overwhelmed. So for that one moment that I got the relaxation, it created the overwhelming feeling of chaos and claustrophobic in my home. And not because anything big happened, but all because the little things started stacking up. I'm looking around, seeing cups, hoodies, backpacks, shoes, random snack papers everywhere. And I'm like, I can't even think straight right now. I am feeling claustrophobic. The anxiety is taking over. I cannot. And I'll be honest, by the second week of spring break, I had completely thrown my closing checklist out the window. Like, gone, bye. There was no closing the kitchen, no reset at night, no rhythm. And now looking back, I can see exactly when everything started to feel heavier. But here's the funny part. Now that everyone is back in school, and I'm home again, alone, that closing checklist, it is back in full swing. Because I can think again, I can move through my house again. I can actually focus on what needs to be done. And that alone has already started to shift everything. That's when I realized I didn't actually create rest. I created pressure. And I think that this is something we all do. We think, if I just let everything go for a little bit, I'll feel better. But when we let go of everything, we don't get peace, we get chaos. And I had to check myself this week, because I kept saying, I'll deal with it later, I'll reset next week. But next week kept moving, and the chaos kept growing. So instead, I had to flip it. Not in a big way, not in an overwhelming way, not like clean the whole house, but just small resets. Here we are again with those small resets. They actually do change your environment. Clear one counter, reset one space. Ten minutes, that's it. Open your windows, you know that's my favorite thing to do, and turn on that music. And here's the key for me. I didn't stop resting. I didn't stop being with my family. I just stopped abandoning the rhythms that actually kept everything grounded. Because those rhythms, they're not restrictive. They're what make everything else feel good. They're what makes sitting down actually feel relaxing. Instead of sitting there thinking about everything you're avoiding. And I think that's what I want to leave with you today. If your house feels crazy right now, if life is off, if everything feels like a lot, you're not doing anything wrong. This is real life. But you don't have to wait for everything to calm down, to feel better in your home. You can start right where you are. One small reset, one small rhythm, one small shift. Because sometimes that's all it takes to go from chaos to just enough peace to breathe again. This is Family Simple, encouragement for the life you're building. Thank you for listening to a production from Family Simple Media and the Family Simple Podcast. You can find and follow Family Simple on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Facebook.