Do you love or hate change? Do you do well with schedules or do you prefer spontaneity? Do you love a certain season and struggle when it’s over?
If you’ve been around here for a minute, you’ve probably learned that I love schedules. I prefer order and predictability. I thrive in an environment where things are in place. But with five kids, it’s very hard to be in control of everything ALL the time. 🙂 Having five kids has broken me in the best ways – it’s helped me release control and allow some spontaneity while ditching the need for everything to be perfect.
Although I don’t love change, the changing of seasons is often bittersweet – both life seasons AND physical seasons. I look forward to the schedules of fall but will miss the sweetness of summer. I look forward to the freedom that will come with having all my 5 kids in school this year while mourning that for the first time in 13 years, I won’t have a kiddo with me all the time. And though it truly is a monumental change, I’m learning to embrace it for what it will bring vs. dwelling on the fact that a really special season has ended.
If this is your struggle too, I want to share a few things that have helped me move forward and embrace the good in changing seasons:
- Make a list of the goodness this new season will offer you:
- More personal time or flexibility
- Extra moments with your spouse or friends
- Fun activities you or your kids will be a part of.
- Growth you see in them or yourself
- A new project/activity/work that you could begin.
- Allow yourself to feel the loss of what you’re leaving behind. Don’t stuff your feelings. Journal about them for a bit or process with a trusted family member or friend. If you’re struggling, it’s important to acknowledge what you’re feeling while still clinging to the Truth of what’s real and important.
- Jot down some fun ideas that you can look forward to:
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- A special trip or weekend away
- Some bucket list items to tackle
- Some honey-do’s you’ve been putting off
- A few small but special ways to enjoy this new season (add a special coffee 1x/week to the budget, grab a seasonal candle to burn, make a new playlist, try some new recipes that include seasonally-available ingredients)
Our summer was so sweet. Normally summer is hard for me because my home is chaos with all the kids at home and I’m trying to fit in work while getting to all the kids’ activities. This summer I leaned into the chaos and spontaneity vs. allowing myself to be frustrated by it, and it was so much more enjoyable. I love fall, but it will bring an extra busyness for my husband that can make life a little more stressful. I can either dread this or I can start planning ways to combat the chaos like getting our schedules on the calendar and getting some meals in the freezer. I typically hate winter, but I’ve found that by being intentional to enjoy what this season brings (cozy movie nights, sledding or skiing, snowmen and hot chocolate, and occasionally a trip away with my husband if it works in the budget), winter isn’t nearly as bad as it used to be.
How can you embrace the coming season in big and small ways?
As I walked right past the beloved children’s book section of the library, I felt myself mourning the fact that my 3 kids are now “out” of the picture-book and early-reader/phonics phase. There are many joys to look forward to in their next reading journey, but still felt sad. Something I learned from “The Lazy Genius” podcast is to use opening and closing ceremonies in response to that feeling. My informal closing ceremony became packing up all the Level 1 readers we’d accumulated at home and gifting them to a 1st grade teacher starting her own classroom. My daughter gets to pop in to say hi to her former substitute teacher when we deliver them and we know the books that helped her learn to read will now be well-used by future 1st graders in our school. Paying forward the “memories” is helping me let go of that season.
I love this! What a great perspective, thanks so much for sharing!!