Less | It’s What I Did in March 🐌

Hello! This One Little Word update was meant to be published last Monday, but I was off doing Less and didn’t manage to write it. Also: last week was just awful, wasn’t it? I won’t link to all of the news articles but it was another heartbreaking week here in the US, full of painful images and anger-inducing “debates.”It felt like it was the right week to pull back, let the dust settle a bit, and find a quiet rhythm to fit my mood and energy level. But I’m feeling more like myself this morning so I’m going to try to write this post and get it published today. A big thank you to Carolyn for hosting these linkups each month!

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I have been struggling with my typical wakeup time since the new year and it has only worsened with the time change. There are days, here and there, when I manage to wake up with my alarm. There are many, many others when I push the snooze button for nearly two hours. I’m sharing this to explain, not to be hard on myself. I know that I’m having a hard time waking because I am tired and I need the sleep. So although I’m disappointed that I’m missing out on my early morning writing time, I know that rest is necessary and things will get back to normal when I’m ready.

AND – my very necessary alone time (early morning before everyone wakes up and at night after the kids are in bed) is getting squished. The kids are staying up later thanks to the lengthening days, which means that all of my chores are getting pushed back later, which means that my evening time at my desk or with a book in my hand has become shortened or nonexistent. Some nights I simply get in the shower and go straight to bed. And Colton is, as predicted, waking earlier with the sun so that time in the morning is being eaten away too (if I manage to wake up, that is).

I took this picture on Sunday around 5:30pm, when I sat down in our one real chair to eat my dinner (the chair situation is for another post!). Colton gets a lot of satisfaction from ripping up paper and watching it float to the floor; it’s his main form of entertainment. This picture only shows about half of the room and was taken after several cleanups and an almost full day of trying to keep him from standing on the table, which requires 7-8 redirections per minute. That’s more than one redirection every 10 seconds; I’ve tracked it. When I say the effort is constant, I mean it. This (and more) is what is waiting for me after I manage to get the kids into bed every night.

So I’m tired in the evenings and thankful for this permission that I’ve given myself: to do less. And when my alarm goes off in the mornings and I’m so comfortable in bed with Matthew and the cats, I remember that it’s okay to do less and to stay where I am just a little longer.

And spring is on its way — the snow is nearly gone and our crocuses have started blooming. The sun will be up even earlier and that means I might feel like it, too. I keep reminding myself about the priorities I’ve set: to spend time in reflection and to take care of my body. Keeping those priorities at the top of my mind helps me decide how to spend those few precious moments each day, which has been helpful.

I hope you all give yourself permission to do a little less this week and find ways to revel in the simple: time on the front porch watching the clouds, a few still moments with teacup in hand, or listening to the birds in the nearby trees. I hope to be back on Wednesday with a little update on my reading. Until then – take good care!