When in Doubt: Aim for Balance.

As the school year winds to a close, I’ve been reflecting on how busy the last month of school has been. There have been field trips, band concerts, and plays to attend. There have been rehearsals, doctor’s appointments, and an ever-changing schedule. And that is just one child. Life is busy. It often can feel like we are continuously pulled in a dozen directions at once.

When I was a new mother, I asked my child’s pediatrician for advice on feeding my toddler. Her response was so simple yet profound in so many ways. She said to me,

“Aim for a well-balanced week.” Simple, right?

As parents, we try to do so much, be so much, accomplish so much on a daily basis. Not only is it exhausting, but it is also unattainable and unsustainable. Aim for a well- balanced week. Prioritize. Figure out what things on your list “have” to be done on that day and figure out what can wait for tomorrow or the weekend. This is going to look different for everyone. If you need to have the dishes done at night in order to have a good morning. That’s okay. On someone else’s list, it might be on the can wait until tomorrow list. And that is okay, too. Aim for a well-balanced week.

What about those days when you are going going? When you open the fridge to make the nutritious meal that you planned out, and face the bone-aching exhaustion we sometimes have at the end of the day? Sometimes, we can power through. Sometimes, we choose to conserve our time and energy and pick something quick and easy. Aim for a well-balanced week.

Your new healthy eating plan gets waylaid by timing/lack of planning/delicious cookies. Aim for a well-balanced week. You meant to make it to the gym, but the day got awayfrom you. Aim for a well-balanced week. Laundry needs to be folded. Aim for a well-balanced week.

Trying to fit all of our goals and responsibilities into every single day makes things slipping through the cracks an inevitability. However, if we aim for a well-balanced week, we give ourselves space to have bad days. We give ourselves space to be flexible. We give ourselves space for spontaneity and play. We give ourselves space to rest and prioritize. Aim for a well-balanced week.