Being a Mom is Like Being the Ringmaster in a Three-Ring Circus

Some people celebrate a new year with the ball-drop inTimes Square.  Others with the day the house is quiet at 10am because the kids are back in school.  Many of us Moms have long given up on the idea of a new year and live by the quarter system.

For me it’s more a trimester system – fall, spring, and summer.  Because, that’s how the schedule changes.  Just as I’m lulled in to that fourth month of finally memorizing that violin is at 4PM on Tuesday and Karate is 3:30PM on Thursday, WHAM!  Something changes.  I want to yell, “Hey, I was just getting settled in!”

The other morning my husband asked if our daughter will be taking two violin lessons a week now.  When I looked at him like he has two heads he just pointed at his iPad and said “It’s on the calendar.”  Grrr, that needs to be updated, too.  I really did have it all figured out.  I’m like the ringmaster at the circus, I’m totally in charge and even if something doesn’t go right, it’s still my show.

I know I’m not the only one who feels like this.  I’ve had girlfriends call and cancel at the last minute because ball practice started up or piano lessons changed time or there is a half-day at school and they completely spaced out about it.  It may have been on the calendar, but in that mental roadmap of where we’re going, there was a GPS update and we didn’t get the download!

The fact that there is a cycle to this you’d think we’d learn.  We love routine though; crave it even.  Yet isn’t this seasonal change-up as much a part of the routine as the everyday?  So what can we do to embrace these changes that seem to rattle us?

• First, let’s embrace the change.  Rather than seeing it as a disruption, maybe see it for what it is, something new to give us different opportunities.

• Second, be mindful of where we are in the schedule cycle.  Plan for the schedule change and be the first to ask for the time slots we need rather than wait for whatever is left over because we were resisting.

• And finally, third, involve others.  Again, it’s not just up to mom to remember all these things.  Older kids can take ownership of their ball schedule.  Younger kids can help add stickers to a paper calendar.  Mom may be the ringmaster, but it takes all kinds of clowns to make the circus successful.

What tips or tricks do you use to make these changes more seamless?  Please share so we can all try them!

[photo by familymwr]

Editor’s note: This post was written by Sara Hawkins, author of the Saving for Someday blog.