I spent 5 hours of a beautiful Saturday the other week putting away our holiday decorations. Trees, tree ornaments, wreaths, garland, household knick-nacks . . . all are organized and tucked away in the attic in their appropriate red containers ready to emerge again on the Friday following Thanksgiving to make out house pretty and festive once more.
Did I mention it took me 5 hours of NON-STOP work?
So you can imagine my incredible—let’s call it—”pleasure” three days later to open my daughter’s jewelry box and find . . . a stray ornament.
Lovely.
This got me thinking, though, that there may not be another job out there that forces you to “let go” like being a parent. I’m not even talking about the sacrifices you make, like not going to the movies as often as you would like or grocery shopping in peace. What I’m referring to is the “letting go of perfection” idea. When I really think about it, there’s a lot of perfectionist ideals I let go of as a result of having two young kids:
- Having a perfectly clean house
- Making a home-cooked meal every night
- Making sure that every meal is perfectly balanced with the right amount of protein, carbs, and veggies/fruit.
- Taking my make-up off every night
- Washing the sheets every week
- Returning phone calls in a timely manner
- Returning email in a timely manner
- Going to bed with the dishes done and put away
- Always folding and putting away the laundry right after it’s clean and dry (and not 5 days later)
- Making sure our kids look picture-perfect ready every day
- Making sure we practice piano and our words every night . . . as well as having free play time to balance the structure
- Having a clean car
- Having a clean and organized purse
- Making sure I post to my blog every week on schedule
I look at this list and realize it’s just a partial one. I’m sure if I thought about it more, I would think of more things I let go of. So what do you think, readers—what have YOU had to let go of as a result of being a parent?
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve been a parent for 2 weeks now. So far I’ve learned how to let go of taking a shower every day. 🙂
I let it go of having judgements of what should be and let it go of thinking about other people’s criticism and judgements. I just do what is most important in big picture and try to have lots joyful moments for me and my son.
Sleep is often let go or limited. My daughter went through a very long period of colic as an infant. As a teen there are lots of early morning events to get her to along with late night events.
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