Yes! These are great. And the food related ones are key. I think sometimes we just put so much pressure on ourselves to have these really perfect meal plans, and/or people assume that bc we eat a certain diet that it’s always super healthy. I’m doing a post next week on the food ‘stack that’s a retrospective of what I *actually* fed myself and the kids while solo parenting for a week with a croup-y and teething baby. It was janky, but we got the job done 😆. I think we need a reality check and also to just cut ourselves slack for how hard we are working. If we don’t build in the breaks and ask for what we need, no one else is going to do it. In this intense baby/littles season we have a bit of a standing arrangement that I get early Saturday mornings to go write and do what I want for a bit. I look forward to it all week, and then when I come back (usually before lunch Saturday AM) the kids are hanging with dad (who they miss if he’s working long hours) and he’ll even motivate them to clean the bathroom 😉 and I’m recharged and actually *want* to see people. I think it works especially well bc of homeschooling. I literally see them *all* week. I need a break 😆
Thank the Lord for those Saturdays when dad takes over. haha We have something similar. For him at this point, it's life-giving to hang with the 3 little boys, and knows it's best for everyone involved if I get some time alone on the weekends.
Absolutely! I'm glad you are carving out that rest for yourself. It really is SO needed. When we used to homeschool I especially needed that too! It's tough.
This is such a helpful post! I’m curious to now what your kids think about your weekly night off. Do they get upset that you aren’t with them? This is my endless struggle. My youngest is 6 and still cries whenever I go somewhere, like to dinner or book club. I hate leaving and feeling bad, but the social time is so life-giving to me.
Hey Erin! Thanks for your comment. So, it was tough at first, and still sometimes the littlest two get upset (they are 2.5), but my husband just tells them, "Mommy is resting," and I know he takes good care of them. It helps me to think too that I am setting the example for them that Mommies need rest (and fun and time with friends!) too, so that someday when/if they are parents, they will hopefully feel more freedom and less guilt than I sometimes do because they are having rest modeled to them on a consistent basis. This would be a good topic for a post though! Maybe I'll think a little bit more about the mom-guilt aspects of resting in a future post.
These are great ideas. I think it is helpful for me to remember that true rest comes from Christ. I think I try to find rest in every other way and then wonder why I still feel frazzled.
Shannon, of course it is very helpful to remember that rest comes from Christ—but I think for me for so long I used to say that, but it was a very disembodied way for me to act like I was being spiritual when really I was forsaking the physical rest I believe he also desires to invite us to with a practice of Sabbath. (Not that this is what you are doing at all, just my experience with the phrase!) But you are quite right in saying that any "restful" activity that is not connected to his rest will ultimately leave us unsatisfied.
It is resting in knowing that we are first and foremost his Beloved, that allows us to rest in a physical way to any good effect. I write about both these aspects here at The House of Rest! You might enjoy some of my other posts like this one about learning to embrace that we are beloved. https://graceekelley.substack.com/p/dry-ground-cant-take-the-water
Blessings to you! And thank you for your thoughtful comment.
Yes, remembering that we are body *and* soul, and that rest is both spiritual and physical, helps. I will definitely read your other post on rest! Thank you.
Yes! These are great. And the food related ones are key. I think sometimes we just put so much pressure on ourselves to have these really perfect meal plans, and/or people assume that bc we eat a certain diet that it’s always super healthy. I’m doing a post next week on the food ‘stack that’s a retrospective of what I *actually* fed myself and the kids while solo parenting for a week with a croup-y and teething baby. It was janky, but we got the job done 😆. I think we need a reality check and also to just cut ourselves slack for how hard we are working. If we don’t build in the breaks and ask for what we need, no one else is going to do it. In this intense baby/littles season we have a bit of a standing arrangement that I get early Saturday mornings to go write and do what I want for a bit. I look forward to it all week, and then when I come back (usually before lunch Saturday AM) the kids are hanging with dad (who they miss if he’s working long hours) and he’ll even motivate them to clean the bathroom 😉 and I’m recharged and actually *want* to see people. I think it works especially well bc of homeschooling. I literally see them *all* week. I need a break 😆
Thank the Lord for those Saturdays when dad takes over. haha We have something similar. For him at this point, it's life-giving to hang with the 3 little boys, and knows it's best for everyone involved if I get some time alone on the weekends.
Absolutely! I'm glad you are carving out that rest for yourself. It really is SO needed. When we used to homeschool I especially needed that too! It's tough.
Quality ideas 💡
Thank you Susan!
this title alone! love it!
Thank you friend!
This is such a helpful post! I’m curious to now what your kids think about your weekly night off. Do they get upset that you aren’t with them? This is my endless struggle. My youngest is 6 and still cries whenever I go somewhere, like to dinner or book club. I hate leaving and feeling bad, but the social time is so life-giving to me.
Hey Erin! Thanks for your comment. So, it was tough at first, and still sometimes the littlest two get upset (they are 2.5), but my husband just tells them, "Mommy is resting," and I know he takes good care of them. It helps me to think too that I am setting the example for them that Mommies need rest (and fun and time with friends!) too, so that someday when/if they are parents, they will hopefully feel more freedom and less guilt than I sometimes do because they are having rest modeled to them on a consistent basis. This would be a good topic for a post though! Maybe I'll think a little bit more about the mom-guilt aspects of resting in a future post.
These are great ideas. I think it is helpful for me to remember that true rest comes from Christ. I think I try to find rest in every other way and then wonder why I still feel frazzled.
Shannon, of course it is very helpful to remember that rest comes from Christ—but I think for me for so long I used to say that, but it was a very disembodied way for me to act like I was being spiritual when really I was forsaking the physical rest I believe he also desires to invite us to with a practice of Sabbath. (Not that this is what you are doing at all, just my experience with the phrase!) But you are quite right in saying that any "restful" activity that is not connected to his rest will ultimately leave us unsatisfied.
It is resting in knowing that we are first and foremost his Beloved, that allows us to rest in a physical way to any good effect. I write about both these aspects here at The House of Rest! You might enjoy some of my other posts like this one about learning to embrace that we are beloved. https://graceekelley.substack.com/p/dry-ground-cant-take-the-water
Blessings to you! And thank you for your thoughtful comment.
Yes, remembering that we are body *and* soul, and that rest is both spiritual and physical, helps. I will definitely read your other post on rest! Thank you.
Of course! And thank you. There are tons of rest related posts in my archives that are free for anyone to read!