Getting Rid of Distractions

It’s been over a week since I took Facebook off of my phone. I wanted to deactivate my account altogether, but for some reason it was going to deactivate my work profile page as well (even though I have a different username and password for that account), so the next best option was to get rid of it from my phone.

So here I am, over a week without constant access to what I THOUGHT I loved and couldn’t live without, and I don’t even miss it. (For the most part) Here’s the thing though, getting rid of it didn’t help in areas I was hoping it would help with; it hasn’t helped get my act together when it comes to figuring out HOW to keep the constant messes in this house at bay. I’ve come to terms with it being this season of life I’m in. And as much as I tell my husband I’m going to lose my mind and I can’t take this messy house any longer, I’ll try to embrace it. ‘Try’ being the key word there.It also hasn’t helped me stay on top of the mounds of laundry that I thought it would help with. It hasn’t helped with dealing with the constant papers that come home from school and create clutter that is driving me 1/2 crazy. (I’m in the process of reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying up. By Marie Kondo. Also known as the ‘KonMarie/Japanese method.’ I can’t wait to finish it and start the declutter process)

I’m pretty much adopting the term ‘hot mess mom’ and I don’t feel one bit bad about it at all. Because here’s what it has helped me with…

Being intentional and present with my day. And with my kids. And as a family. And with my jobs.

I was hoping I would miraculously find all this time I had been ‘wasting’ when I would aimlessly scroll through my newsfeed, but surprisingly, that didn’t happen. What did happen was watching my boys at their swimming lessons. Every minute of it. Watching Grayson have the biggest smile on his face the whole entire lesson, is a memory that I will forever have. We just finished week 6, and he still has his big toothless grin the whole lesson the same way he did in week 1! And seeing Kylan in week 6 compared to week 1 was so fun! I love being their biggest cheerleader in life.

It’s also helped us incorporate a fun new bed time routine and it has allowed me to not be so frustrated because I’m exhausted and “just want them to go to bed!” Instead, we are taking the time for them to say 1 thing ‘sad, glad, and mad’ that happened during their day. Kylan Jack says some pretty funny things that doesn’t make sense much of the time, but I absolutely love this time with them. My boys don’t say a whole lot about their day, so this has helped tremendously with getting them to talk and hearing about things I wouldn’t have heard about otherwise! (This idea was adopted from our parenting class we went through at church)

It allowed me to do something simple and fun for the kids for Valentine’s Day and being happy with how happy THEY were, without me having access to compare how lame it may have looked compared to some other rock star mom!

It has forced me to take the time to read, to help decompress my Mama soul at night. And actually go to bed when my body is telling me to do so!

What I have missed are sharing some funny stories about my monkeys. Like Grayson thinking his shoes are getting ruined. When I asked if he had holes in the soles, he said “No! My toe is just all the way up to the edge!” I had to explain his shoes aren’t getting ruined, he’s just growing!

Or the sweet stories about Talan…I fell on the ice carrying Isla a couple days ago. Talan was so concerned, and the boys didn’t make a peep in the car waiting for the bus after that. They’re usually wrestling and crazy as can be. But nope. It’s like they were mourning something. Haaaa! He just kept asking if I was alright. He melts this Mama’s heart.

I still have posted things here and there on Instagram, because some things I just can’t help myself with. Lol!

But IG doesn’t suck me in the way FB does. I’m over it within a few minutes.

Next week is going to be what I can only imagine will be exhausting. And emotional. And eye opening. And a huge learning experience. And the best thing for Mr. Kylan will be for his Mama to be present and rid myself from life’s many distractions.

So here’s to continuing to better myself and be more present in my daily life. I can’t say that I’ll be gone from Facebook forever. (Staying home can be a lonely world) But for now, it’s what this Mama heart and mind needs. To stay focused on what matters most.

~XOXO

P.S. I’ll continue to share my blog through FB and IG, so keep a look out if you want to keep up with all the goings on with my journey to being more intentional with my time and present in my day ♥️