I’m a bit of a stress case sometimes.

My family can attest to it.

My mind is always racing, I’ve always got something that needs to be done (or feel I should be doing something else), multitasking, running around, you may know the drill.

But recently it has really bugged me. And I’m tired, sooooooo tired. Can it be that I’m even more tired now that my kids are older than when they were babies?!?! Maybe not more, but certainly neck and neck.

One thing that helps calm me down and stop the wheels spinning is a sense of order.

I love order.

Except for my office which looks to the untrained eye a bit disorderly (but really each pile is representative of something that I understand), I try to keep the house pretty near and tidy.

And I try to get everyone chipping in with that request.

I really do think an orderly home provides a sense of security, clarity and peace.

But. I will admit. Sometimes to get to the state of orderliness that my brain needs, I end up not being so peaceful and nagging and raising my voice and getting pretty mad at those around who are not contributing to the order.

I mean, does it not take effort to step over that pile of things on the stairs (that are yours I might add) when you are heading up to your room? When you have to move your bag out of the way, is it not an indicator to put your bag away? Do the dirty socks on the family room floor really look like they belong? Is the soccer ball rolling around in the front entrance for the tenth day supposed to be there?

It was the soccer ball that got me the other day.

We live in the city. Our front entrance is small. We have 7 people in this house. That’s a minimum of 14 shoes (and really each person often has more than one pair of shoes there despite me begging for them to be put away), 7 jackets, tons of hats and mitts, all fighting for space in the front entrance.

Yet for the past week there have also been 2 soccer balls rolling around.

Why?

WHY????

No reason. “We have soccer”. But not today!?!?

But then it hit me. I had a flash forward. To when there were no soccer balls.

No 24 pairs of shoes.

No baseball hats. No bags not hung up. No snow pants hanging on the door knob.

It was neat and tidy.

And empty.

I took a picture of the soccer balls. One day I might miss them.

I was talking to my girlfriend the other day who suggested I need to look at some of the things I try to do and “just let go”. Not place the same priority on everything in my life. I need to sort out what’s important and what’s not. I need to look at conserving some of my energy and getting the biggest bang for my buck.

I remember reading a quote that said “messy is not dangerous“. It’s ok that my kids make a mess (sometimes). We will be ok. I need to focus on the dangerous and let go of *some* of the messy. Maybe?

But, that’s not to say that I won’t be after them all the time:)) I still believe in a house of order. But I’m going to try not to stress about it or worry about it. I will try to remember that one day the mess will be gone, so it’s ok for it to stay a bit now.

Gonna try.

What are some of the things you need to “let go” during this crazy time of child rearing?