Saturday, July 30, 2011

Meditations for Parents Who Do Too Much

book cover - Meditations for Parents Who Do Too Much

A dear friend once gave me a box filled with various words — imagine, blessings, abundance, and such — on individual slips of paper; I pull one out each day, and see what it inspires within me. The daily entries in Meditations for Parents Who Do Too Much are more than a single word, but each day's entry takes only a single page.

And given the book's title, it's not surprising that it touches on some organizing themes. Here are just a few small portions of what caught my eye; note that the quotes shown are not the whole entry for any given day. Some of them may even speak to those of us who are not parents!

January 20:
We hear lots of parents complain that they are so busy doing other things that they have little "quality" time with their kids.

But if we're going to find that time, we may have to relax our standards. We may have to let the laundry pile up, let a day's phone messages lapse, let the dog go without his bath. A little "disorder" may be necessary, if we're going to find the time to read that bedtime story.
August 16:
As parents who do too much, we are often prioritizing. We will put aside the medical checkup, the long-distance call to a friend — because there are "important" things to get done — things that need our immediate attention.

But let us not confuse urgency with importance. Just because something sits up and begs at our feet, does not mean we have to throw it a bone.
August 18:
The greatest gift I give my children is the time I spend with them.
September 2:
In this society, we are so bent on accomplishing all our tasks as quickly as possible, that we rarely, if ever, think about the enjoyment of our work, how it may enrich us, or what we may learn from it. Rather, we're immersed in getting it "done."
September 14:
Some of us now have a mountain of accumulated things that seemed totally necessary a few years ago. Our basements appear to be a distribution center for Toys-R-Us. It's not just that our children outgrew much of what we bought. That is inevitable. It's that a great deal of these things were never used or never enjoyed.
December 7:
Our lives and our closets have a lot in common. Both are cluttered with things we could easily do without.

10 comments:

chantal said...

Nice post Jeri. If I weren't in the process of decluttering I would think about getting that book! Maybe in a few months. I definitely relate to the Toys R Us comment.

Barbara@BabyBloggingBoomer said...

Thanks Jeri, I'm surprised to say I have never heard of this book. It's next on my order list now.

Monika said...

This looks like a really awesome book!! I think it's so important to try to stay balanced and remember what's really important, myself included.

Jeri Dansky said...

Barbara, I had never heard of this book, either. I discovered it when one of my clients was parting with her copy!

Janet Barclay said...

I can so relate to the words of wisdom for September 2. Sometimes I get so busy that I forget the reason I started my own business so I could do work that I love. This summer I've had the opportunity to slow down a little and rekindle some of that joy. I hope to maintain this state of mind for a long time, for my physical and mental well-being, and so I can continue giving my clients my very best.

Lee said...

This looks like a great book. My church has an online website and a post on a page for women has received many replys from women who are struggling with balancing their lives and being aware so they don't miss the things that are really important. I think we all struggle with this, whether we are parents or not.

AlexisAnne said...

Lots of great insight in those quotes. I often struggle with the balance myself!

Jeri Dansky said...

Lee, I agree - I think most of us struggle with these issues, to varying degrees.

Anonymous said...

That sounds like a great book. Thought I'm de-cluttering like a banshee and not allowed to take on any new books...I really enjoyed the quotes you shared. Also, I just shared a link to it with my readers yesterday. Hope a few people stop by for a read.
Cheers!

Jeri Dansky said...

I hope your decluttering is going well, RosieDreams. And thank you for the link!