March Madness. The Ides of March. “ March comes in like a lion”...What is it with March? Why does this month make us moms yearn for more? January and its big ol’ New Year’s resolutions don’t have anything on this month. March – I suddenly want to shop more, schedule summer plans more, work out more for upcoming swimsuit season (yet try new restaurants and crock pot recipes more?) – say yes to everything more! March seem like the month of more.
So, as I sit here typing, thinking I need to do more for my community –while looking like Carrie Bradshaw over her laptop , I stop. I must take a moment to have a word with myself.
I declare it March – the month of the moment.
• Have present moment. Be present. We’ve all heard Oprah, our therapists and our grade-school teachers taking “roll” saying it. Present! It’s so important to be there. Whether it’s with our kids in the car going to soccer practice and listening to them painstakingly explaining to us about some very important recess situation. Or listening to your husband who has had a bad day. Or attending that meeting that really needs your input – you really have to try and be there. In addition to deep breaths, I turn the radio in the car off and really listen to my child, let my husband stomp around the house for a minute when he comes in the door, and have the meeting away from my desk.
• Have a use your network moment – We all have a network of help. I’m an only child with such a great network of friends, co-workers and caregivers. But I constantly still put pressure on myself to do it all by myself. People want to help you. They really do. Carpool. A girlfriend who will just listen to you rant. Someone at work who can take it “off your plate.” Ask for it…and it will come.
• Have an exercise your brain moment. I’m pretty much convinced that board games and declaring a family game night can do some really great things. I’ve rediscovered Scrabble this year and learned that my son is (maybe) better at family Trivial Pursuit than I am. Games clear a lot of clutter in your brain. Find your Sudoku moment – it will ultimately help you with your multi-tasking.
• Have a look outside your present situation moment. Yes, March can also be the month of the martyr. We all must have it so much worse than anybody. Oh, I just need to give it break sometimes. We all have a lot going on, but have we looked around the world lately? Even looked in our own backyard lately? A fellow player on my son’s soccer team (I won’t even go into the soccer thing) recently experienced a house fire and his family lost everything. Literally everything. When I’m feeling a little “woe is me I can’t handle all of this” I try and look outside myself.
• Have an “I” moment – And put it away. Ok I’m very into my smart phone and all these wonderful devices. “i”-this…”i”-that…I have more access to information than ever before. I’ve stopped taking them to meetings so I can focus on the agenda at hand a little better. Put it in another room over dinnertime. If someone throws up at school – they know how to find me. I don’t have to be at the mercy of that thing – no matter the cute little bling-y, beguiling cover I’ve put on it and the fact there’s an app for that. That truly can wait.
• Have a “me” moment. Just do it. Give yourself permission to walk around the block, shut the door and take a bubble bath with that magazine that makes you dream of how you want your house to look, go get your nails done at a place in the neighborhood. Again, we’re not good for anyone if we’re not feeling good about ourselves.
Ok…so there are my thoughts on March. I continue to work on it. But it’s March Sweeps after all and I must now have a DVR moment (I need to be able to record – more!).
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