Take your Reptile for a Walk

This morning, we left the breakfast mess on the counter and the oatmeal to congeal. We went upstairs to play with a wooden train set, then we dressed our son in his Halloween costume. I say it's a dragon, my husband says it's a dinosaur and the neighbors said: "Take a look at that fine looking crocodile!" Bonus! 3 costumes in one. We took our "reptile" to a local coffee shop, got coffees,  and visited the fire truck at the station. We walked to the park and swung the reptile, then we walked back playing hide-and-seek along the way and admiring the colors of the autumn leaves. We held hands and made fun of ugly houses in the neighborhood. It was a beautiful, peaceful morning. Just the way I like them. The three of us, doing our thing.

Some weekends it feels like there's so much to do: cleaning, cooking, fixing the car, grocery shopping, etc... and that it will never end. When one thing gets fixed another breaks, and don't get me started on meals, sometimes I wish we didn't have to eat as often to survive. Once or twice a week would be great. Overall though, I feel I've come to relax about this. It will get done. Eventually. One day. When it needs to. I'd rather enjoy doing less and doing it with joy and intention then frantically trying to get it all done. Keeping things simple is also a great way to reduce feelings of "being SO busy." On Zen Family Habits, I picked out some of their 43 Simple Ways To Simplify Your Life.

My favorites are: 

1. Turn off your cell phone. I don't own one so Yay! That's easy!
2. Go to bed early. I hit the sack at 9pm. It's the only way I can stay sane. Sane Mommy=happy family. Insane Mommy makes lame dinners.
3. Purge as much unneeded clutter as possible. The less you have, the less needs attention.
4. Want what you have not what you don’t. This is hard at first, but try it. Tell yourself: "I have every thing I need and it's perfect for me."
5. Get outside. This relates back to going to bed early. Going outside every day keeps me sane. I'd like to go to wilderness more often though; less parks, more forests.
6. Let go of the self-imposed need to be perfect. So the floor is crusty and baby keeps bringing me the fluff off the carpet. It doesn't matter.  I just go outside.

Must do these:

1. Keep a bag for garbage in your car. I keep meaning to do this and forget.
2. Ask for experiences not things for your birthday and Christmas this year. This is what I read: Ask for Mommy Time for your birthday and Christmas this year. Not and hour. A FULL AFTERNOON, or even a FULL DAY.

Ones that don't work for me:

1. Get a label maker or write labels out by hand. Labelers are weird people and generally overuse their label maker. Label makers tend to become sign makers, and then the signs become lists of rules. I don't label- it's a scary thing.
2. Set your clothes out for the next day the night before. Place it neatly on the bed and step back to admire your selection. Weird. Just put on clothes. 
3. Be positive. Blah. Be angry or depressed if you want. Do it fully. Then move on.

Keeping it simple really is key. However that looks for you. It's easy: play hide-and-seek with a reptile, hold hands with the one you love, drink a decent cup of coffee, and marvel at nature. When all that is done, come home, vacuum the fluff off the carpet. Call it a day and go to bed early.