Day 1: No excuses!

Well, today started day 1 of my 31 day challenge, and sure enough I woke up this morning FULL of excuses as to why I should put it off until the start of next month.

I am the queen of excuses.  I can excuse my way out of any situation.  Need help with a good excuse?  Come see me; I have plenty to share!

I wasn't really sure what I was going to do on day one, and after waking up and coming up with one million, five hundred seventy-three thousand, nine hundred twenty-two excuses why I should NOT start my challenge today, it came to me!  No more excuses.

It is so easy to decide to be complacent.  Mediocre, if you will.  Mediocrity is easy.  It's acceptable.  Most of all, it's safe.  I can choose to do what I've always done, and not take any risks, and stay safe in my little bubble, or I can choose to become a better version of myself. 

I started thinking back to the reason I felt the need to do this challenge, and my son popped into my head.  Sweet, precious boy.  He's my reason.  I am so disorganized, that I spend a good part of my day looking for stuff.  I wake up to take a shower and I have to look for a towel.  I have to look for clothes to wear.  I have to look for my hair brush.  I have to look for my keys.  It's really ridiculous.  Add in 2 kids to the mix, who also need to be bathed and dressed, and I spend a good part of my day not only looking for stuff, but griping at my child in the process.

The other day after looking for my purse all over the house, Grayson asked me a question.  He hadn't done anything wrong.  I lost my own purse.  However, when he sweetly asked me to put in his movie, I snapped at him.  He said, "Mommy, why are you talking ugly to me?  You hurt my feelings."

Instant guilt.

This isn't the first time this has happened.  Or the second.  Or the third.  Matter of fact, it happens multiple times a day.  I am so disorganized and scatter-brained that I spend a good amount of time frustrated, and my poor son is the one who takes the brunt of it. 

Part of my disorganization has to do with being off of my ADD medication.  I stopped taking it when I found out I was pregnant with Tenley, and haven't gotten back on it yet.  It's hard for me to admit that I'm not "normal".  It's frustrating that my brain doesn't function the way other people's brains function.  I have made hundreds of excuses as to why I didn't need to be on my medicine, but the simple fact is that I do need it.  So, today I set up a doctor's appointment so that I can start it back up.

Also, today I decided that I would stop making excuses as to why I couldn't help with housework.  My sweet husband does so much.  Without him, I would never have clean clothes.  The dishes would still be piled in the sink, the floors wouldn't be mopped, the trash wouldn't be taken out, and the kids' toys would be all over the place.  He does it all! 

We both work and we both go to school and somehow, he is the only one doing anything around the house.  He does it without ever complaining, even though I know it bothers him.  I also know that it would make him super happy to come home to a clean house on occasion. 

Tonight that will happen!  I washed the dishes, cleaned off the counter, swept and mopped the floor in the kitchen and living room, started some laundry, and took out the trash.  Grayson helped by picking up his toys.  Tenley helped by sitting there looking cute.  You know what surprised me the most?  We had fun!  Grayson and I sang along to Taylor Swift songs, and we danced and laughed the whole time!  I think I got more quality time with him tonight than I have in awhile.  Amazing.

So, that's day one.  No more excuses.  I feel great about what I accomplished today, and I know Nick will be happy when he gets home tonight.  There are even chocolate chip cookies waiting for him on the stove.  :-)

Just call me Suzy Homemaker!

Change is good.

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." -Romans 12:2

Goodnight, my friends!