Lately I haven’t felt like a great mom.
The level of “busy” over the course of the last few years has increased to a level that (at least for me) occupies more time and brain capacity than ever before. And I sometimes ask myself, “What’s the point of all this?” We get the job to support the family… but what if we feel we don’t have the time to enjoy the family?
I remember as a kid looking around at adults and seeing them flash by in a blur. They always seemed pre-occupied with something and I could never understand why. They never just sat and relaxed; more importantly they never played! Why an adult would want to be that way was beyond me, and yet here I am-low on time, high on anxiety, and always preoccupied.
These are the times that I have to remind myself that the point of having children is to enjoy them. If it means slowing down, then slow down. So often, a busy schedule, too little time, and too little sleep is treated like a good thing in this society. Jon Jackimowicz wrote an article entitled “Being Busy as a Status Symbol: Why American Culture Values a Lack of Leisure Time and What We Can Do About it”, and in it he examines the reasons we reward busy people, and why slowing down is frowned upon.
He states, “There is a real danger in being too busy. Constant work overload can lead to burnout, a failure to prioritize important tasks and decreased social support, which in turn can reinforce burnout. However, if being busy is merely a way of signaling high status to others or distinguishing oneself from lower social classes, this norm can be changed.”
Sometimes it just boils down to choices. So once I finish this article, I’m going to head over the living room and play a round of Sorry with my kids. They think that game is hilarious. And I always lose. But when I get that extra time with them, then I kind of feel like I’m winning.
About Maia Rodriguez
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