An Excess of Noise and Activity

I haven't written in a while! Life has been crazy- busy and noisy. The thought of writing something coherent has exhausted me.

This past week has been a real blur between Tim starting a new position at his company and having several evening obligations, a few of us having a random, short-lived stomach bug, me subbing, the girls having lots of activities, and just life screaming back into action after the break of Christmas.

I loved having some down time for Christmas. We spent days in our pajamas eating Oreo balls and watching TV. It was relaxing, but by the time it was over, we were all antsy ready to get back to the grind. I guess we maybe hit the ground running a little too fast, because this week has been exhausting.

I've made a few observations of activity level and how the family functions.

When we don't take the time to rest, we end up running on fumes. When we run on fumes, we aren't our best selves. I end up shouting more or attempting to hide in the bathroom more than necessary and the kids end up in tears over little things (such as a toilet paper tube boat and the last few notes of "My Bonnie") and in general, ugliness comes out.

When our days are filled with nonstop action and noise, we get so run down that we can't fully function anymore. We fall apart. We eat poorly. We don't keep up with the dishes, laundry or other household chores. Some of us suck our thumbs constantly. Others of us spread out every single item we own in a thin layer atop the carpet without actually playing with anything. Tim just looks tired. It's not the prettiest picture.

Despite running around like a chicken with its head cut off, I've found myself staying up way too late each night this week in pursuit of peace and quiet. The cycle is vicious. I stay up late reading or watching TV and enjoying my quiet alone time, which leads to me not getting enough sleep, which leads to me being grumpy the next day, and the whole thing repeats.

I'm going to attempt to slow things down next week. I'm going to try to keep us home a bit more so we can focus on the important things. I'm going to try to give myself time for a cup of coffee and a breather each afternoon so that I won't stay up so late. I'm going to get enough sleep so that I have the energy to get to work on the 3 or more blog posts I've been putting off for weeks!

Being busy is good. It is good to be active and involved and to spend time in meaningful activity. It is not good to be so busy that you can't function. Rest and time to process life are essential to sanity.

I think I'm going to pursue sanity a little bit harder.

This post was brought to you by coffee and an extremely helpful cat. 

Note: As I finished writing this post, Tim walked in the door two hours early- he's off for the rest of today as well as Monday. Thank you, Dr. King! Let the pursuit of peace begin.