Friday, May 09, 2008

Life on a diet

Today, I'm giving over the reigns to Heather, my lovely wife. Here is her brief thinking on busy-ness and some possible cures...

I have 3 kids, teach piano lessons, and am working hard on a masters degree in order to launch a new career which should help my kids through college. I did have a life-changing experience over the last two years. My family lived in Kenya while my husband had a job there. I had to set aside everything that I was involved in, as we left the USA. There was much less to do in Kenya and far less time pressure. It was incredibly freeing and caused some great things to happen in my kids' lives and with us as a family. I’ve decided that "less is more" when it comes to filling up my life with activity. I’ve put my life on a "diet" and I think I’m actually getting more out of it. Take a season of rest, maybe a year off from your major activities. It will hurt, but you’ll be healthier for it.

2 comments:

Courtney O. said...

so good.

Julie Kibler said...

Hi, Heather! Can't wait to see you guys in June, hopefully...

I am pretty darn good about saying no to stuff, and while it makes me feel guilty sometimes, I just don't think I could keep up the pace some of the other parents we know do. In the meantime, we keep our expenses reasonable as a result, and I get to follow my writing dream, too. AND...the kids are not as stressed out as some of their friends.

I was reading a newspaper article last night about parents who QUIT their jobs to help their kids do college applications full-time! I'm sorry, but that plain frightens me.

My middle kid is the joiner, and she's about to do me in right now, though. I'll be glad when she has her driver's license, but she is also going to have to make some hard choices about what stays and what goes when she starts high school next year. There are only so many hours in the day, right?