Unfinished me

I have always been somewhat of a perfectionist. Ok, not somewhat, but 100% perfectionist. I strive for flawlessness and always set extremely high, sometimes unattainable standards. Some would even describe me as a little bit neurotic.

It's not always a good thing to want to strive for perfection. It has come back at me several times. Ok, several times one-thousand times...

As of late, I've battled with my inner perfectionism demons. I have unfinished projects, unorganized closets and stacks of paper in my office. These are all things that I never used to have and if I did, I was a major stress case and wouldn't go to bed at night until everything was, perfect.

I blame a couple things for my leniency. Children and my new found love for the the universe and what it has to offer. When I am busy cleaning away or wanting to finish painting bathroom trim that I started three months ago, it is then that I realize my toddler is busy playing in this room talking away to his stuffed animals. Yes, that is a good thing but I also want to be the one he's talking to...

While my teenager is busy being, well, a teenager and wanting his space from mom, my toddler is at such a prime learning age. He is two and at two he is like a little sponge. I can really teach him anything I want right now from how to count to ten in Spanish or the difference between an ant and a spider. I don't want to miss these moments because I was too busy cleaning closets or organizing silverware drawers. The unfinished paint project in the boys' bathroom drives me nuts - Every. Single. Day- but I have taught myself not to care anymore; because honestly, who is judging me for not finishing the job? If they are, then they don't know me and don't really need to be a part of my life.

I am still high strung, and still a perfectionist, but I have learned to control it quite a bit. Analyzing everything I do and how I do it was getting me nowhere.  If something isn't worth stressing over or isn't attainable then, meh, I move on and worry about the bigger, more important things. The things that breathe and giggle and make me smile. My children. My perfect children who think I am the perfect mom.

Public Pool Adventure

Summer has arrived. The heat, more heat, and even more heat. I find that if I don't look at the weather reports, it doesn't seem as bad. To me, anything over 100 degrees feels the same. Hot.

I have been so busy over the past few weeks and really haven't made the time to sit down and write. I've been handwriting, just haven't made it a point to type it up. Between my toddler, my teenager, my husband, workouts, cooking, cleaning, Monavie, swimming and whatever else we might be doing I've been busy.

Today, the toddler and I ventured out the Mesquite Groves Aquatic Center. I had been looking forward to it for a few weeks now, tagging along with my "bff's" for one of their children's birthday.

We lathered up before we left the house, since I knew it'd already be 100 degrees by the time we got there at 10am, loaded up the car and headed out on our new adventure to the "water park".

Travis isn't always the easiest traveler. He's impatient, stubborn, strong willed and TWO. Grocery store trips aren't even fun most days. I was feeling very optimistic about his mood for today's excursion since he loves water. We've been swimming every day, going to the splash pads often and the kid would be happy with a hose if I let him play with it all day. So, yes, I was feeling optimistic.

As we started playing in the water, Travis was very timid. Not like he is at home. He was very overwhelmed by the loud music, screaming, laughing and chattering children and the very large bucket of water that dumps from atop the play structure. He's used to swimming with his arm floaties and they are not allowed at the pool so we had to get a life-vest for him. He wasn't so sure about that...

Needless to say, it wasn't a fun trip for me.

Travis was overstimulated, I was moody because he wasn't having fun and I wasn't able to talk with my friends. Travis didn't want to share the small water spout in the splash pad area and I was getting the evil eye from two different parents. Really? Can't we all just get along? He's TWO! He's just learning to share, and he's finally happy and now you are going to make me piss him off? That's when I knew it was best if we just left.

Moral of my story is... always leave the house with a smile and a positive attitude. You never know when you'll need that extra happiness and positivity to get you through a very minor tough time. Had I left the house grumpy today, expecting it to go bad, it would have been a lot worse. I keep my chin up and at least now I know he prefers the private pool in our backyard, for now.