No means no means no.

Don’t be offended if I tell you no.

You might not be used to hearing this word from me. I’m actually only good at saying it to my kids, and even then not as often as I should. But I’m making myself a new habit – saying NO. And just plain no, without explanation. This has been a long time coming, and now is as good a time as any.

You see, I have spent my entire summer frazzled over one commitment or another, constantly doing so much for everybody else that I have worn myself ragged. I have permanent dark circles under my eyes, and even when I can sleep, I often wake up in the middle of the night with a list of things to do. I haven't blogged in weeks because I've had so much going on. It’s a problem, and the thing is, I did it to myself.

What I wanted to do yesterday: snuggle with my kids, take them to the library, maybe do a little knitting, and make my family a nice dinner. Heck, I wanted to stay up and drink a glass of wine with my husband. What I DID do yesterday: bake three cakes, mash them up and add frosting, freeze them, roll the cake/frosting mix into 150 tiny little balls, freeze them again, dip each one into white chocolate individually and sprinkle with the proper amount of sprinkles, cut a ton of tissue paper into little squares, and stuff individual cake balls into tiny boxes that would. not. shut. for. anything. In the midst of all this, I still managed to make and feed my children three meals (one of which was a thrown-together dinner soup that was so icky Nate and I had to make a Taco Bell run…), care for them, bathe them, etc… I was so exhausted that I accidentally fell asleep on the bed before 9:00 and left the house a horrific disaster that I had to deal with first thing this morning. Ugh.

I’m not saying I didn’t whole-heartedly say yes to making said cake balls. I adore the person I said yes to on this one, and I didn’t think through the logistics of how long the project would take me. But it’s the story of my life – I say yes to everyone and then live with the consequences of fulfilling my promises (and it was pointed out to me recently that I don’t even always fulfill my promises – how much did that sting…). So my new plan is to say no to everyone, and then if I change my mind and do something nice, it will be a lovely surprise.

So, NO. No no no. No a hundred times over, and if I have to say it more, no again. And not no because I don’t want to (although, I really might not want to at all), but because I prefer to be happy, sane, and doing what I stay at home to do – teaching and caring for my own little people. Keeping my house clean and cooking healthful food. Spending a few minutes every day just sitting still if I want to.

 

So don’t be offended if I tell you no. I’m telling everyone else the same thing.