Scattered

What makes one person stressed, doesn't do the same to another person. What makes one person relaxed, is not the same in another. When the Bible tells us repeatedly not to compare ourselves with others, why do we do so?

Weekends are notoriously chaotic for me...that is unless my husband and I head out for an all day outing. I love summer for this. But, when at home, weekends become chaotic. I don't want to blame it too much on my husband. Truly without his help, they would still be chaotic. But, my husband has such energy and enthusiasm and so much doesn't conform to my schedule that he does throw a lot of chaos into my weekends.

I ask myself, what else went wrong with my yesterday to make me feel stressed at the end of the day? The baby...She is now almost two. She really is acting two already. That is chaotic in and of itself. But, there are little ways I respond to her that are just me forgetting. For one, we have a gate on the kitchen. I just need to remember to keep it locked so she doesn't raid the water maker and the cabinets. Then, when she throws tantrums because I'm not picking her up and walking around with her, or because I'm not giving her a piece of food, or because her sisters have a toy she wants...then I need to just pick her up and put her in her crib. After a few days of doing that consistently, she improves. A swat does nothing for a tantrum. Little ones like that really don't understand in my viewpoint. But, that is something I need to keep in my arsenal. For, when for instance, she tries to repeatedly empty the contents of my desk drawer.

It was also stressful yesterday because with my middler girl as I have been trying to re-introduce wheat to her for the last week and a half or so. At first it was fine, but recently she's gotten those tummy aches back. Plus, she starts being repetitive (singing the same song over and over, or repeating a phrase over and over) and emotional with her sisters. I'm doing Gluten Free again. This time I tried only natural wheat, no preservative, made either in a sourdough or a soaked buttermilk fashion. That seemed to help the reaction on her tummy. But, behavior wise, it's become a challenge again. If you have an ADD/ADHD child or a child on the autistic scale, and you are looking for something to help their behavior naturally, I'd encourage you to try gluten free and also preservative free and see if it works for you. If that doesn't work, try going dairy free as well. It's a lot of work at first, but not so much when you get used to it. Sometimes I think about trying it myself as I have real ADD like symptoms myself, but I love my wheat. My Gluten Free Daughter, however, says she is lucky when she is gluten free, because I make her special gluten free things that the other girls don't always get. What a sweetheart.

Another noteable part of my weekend that is making it stressful to me is a time committment. When I know I have to get up in the morning, that is when insomnia and anxiety set in. That's why I'm awake at 6:30 in the morning. And when insomnia sets in I'm tired all day and can't think straight.

I really shouldn't commit to any morning commitment - even doing nursery at the church. There is nothing in the Bible that says I have to do that. Personally, I like having my children with me in church as much as possible. We've been going to two churches. One has nursery and childcare and we really enjoy the pastor's heart for people. The other is made up mostly of homeschooling families, is focused on the leadership of men in their households, and children sit with you in the service. We enjoy this church too, but wonder about true diversity in a church. We like them both. Yet, when nursery duty stresses me, why do I need to feel compelled to do it? Especially when I don't mind keeping my little one in service with me.

Other morning commitments I question myself about over and over, are soccer and Friday School (co-op). I'm not doing either of these things right now. They stress me. I'm not the Mom I should be when I have early morning games to commit to and when I have early morning co-op to commit to. I just need to remind myself that God made me unique and like Timothy I just need to take a "little wine" for my stomach. I don't really mean to drink wine, but to do what I need to do to take care of myself.