Finding balance in life is often one of the hardest things to do. This can relate to need vs wants, work vs play, cake vs vegetables, etc. etc. The days pass so quickly that it really takes effort and a lot of hard work to find a semblance of balance, and to be honest, that is something we are struggling with lately.
I work two jobs and Andrew works all the time. Our schedules are carefully crafted to make sure someone is home with Hannah while still allowing us to basically work around the clock. I'm sad to say that with our current set up, Andrew and I see each other about 2 nights a week, with one of those being his kickball nights, so it's cut short. It's unfortunate that during this fun phase of life, we seldom get to have fun as a whole family. It's one of those tricky balancing acts, working enough to pay the bills versus making sure we are able to spend quality time as a family. This is our hardest balance and most painful concession to make sure we are able to stay above water. It's not easy.
Lately I've had trouble maintaining motivation to continue moving forward in my weight loss journey. It's mostly a battle of will power and self control. Something that seems should be easy can be so difficult. I admittedly have poor self control -- it's how I became over weight in the first place. I finally hit my pre-pregnancy weight about a month ago, but have self-sabotaged and regained a couple of pounds. I know I can do it, I'm down almost 20 pounds to prove it, but I'm too good at reasoning to myself, "it's the first date night we've had in weeks, have dessert." "You only see Mumford and Sons in concert every few years, eat the queso at dinner and drink beer at the show." "I'm down 17 pounds, I deserve this cookie!" Balancing the want to celebrate with the ability to continue being successful. It's hard.
As Hannah gets older (more sassy), bigger (able to climb on more things), and smarter (able to climb on more things and sassy), we are hitting a more complicated stage of discipline. She's not quite ready for time out, and laughs at whatever you say to her if trying to make her stop doing something. She thinks it's fun and highly giggle worthy to run across the couch while almost falling off. I can't keep her off of it, she doesn't care/understand/listen when I tell her why it's a horrible idea. She's bound to injure herself, I don't know what to do and she keeps on doing it. Balancing my frustration with concern, her fun with her safety, all of it with my sanity. It's challenging.
At the end of the day, we do the best we can. We balance what we can and some days the needs have to come before the wants. The need to work an extra shift vs the want to relax. The need to not buy the morning coffee vs the want to indulge. The need to put down the dessert vs the 'hello, we love cookies!' It's all a work in progress and I'm thankful that I have a wonderful husband and family to help me balance this crazy juggling act we call life!
(but if you see me with a cookie, don't say anything, just give me the side eye).
