I met Nathalie in the spring of this year during Problogger’s 31DBBB project. Nathalie has also kindly guest posted for me in the past, so she is a veteran! If you’d like to read Nathalie’s previous posts, catch them here:
- French Friday: Pastis: drinking yourself under the table
- Autism signs and the importance of early screening
- Toulouse, city of nocturnal emissions
Natalie blogs at “Natalie Hamidi – High Maintenance and deranged” in both French and English. She blogs on several topics including life, culture and Twilight (she is a member of S.P.L.A.T.) and most importantly on a topic that is very near and dear to her heart, autism. She has had a French blog on the topic and has just launched a new blog in English called Autism and Children which is just beautiful.
Although this topic is important, Nathalie has written a post to encourage to us remember something else that is very important……
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With two sons, Matthieu – the older – being autistic, I have spent about four years wandering where the tide would bring me. A wave would push me to the mountain of dishes, another would project me to one of the endless almost-daily health appointments with Matthieu’s carers. Sometimes, I would stumble upon the bills to pay, or the waves would disappear for five minutes – just time enough for a shower or a coffee break.
I recently understood why I was a zombie (braiiiins).
My sons are the world to me, but taking care of them was all my life, all I was doing. I was not being me anymore, I was dedicating all my time to them, to make sure Matthieu had the best care and to dedicate time for Julien, my youngest, so that he would not feel neglected.
I was forgetting me.
In the evening, when my husband would come back from his office, I would not have anything interesting to say about me – discussions were revolving around Matthieu and Julien’s progresses, or his job. Nothing barely mentionable about me, my interests, my likes or dislikes: I was like empty inside. Although my personality was what always attracted people to me, I discovered how “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. I wasn’t even interesting to myself!
Instead of scheduling time apart to entertain myself, I chose to work more – but on things that make me happy. I have become a mompreneur (contraction of “mom” and “auto-entrepreneur”). Hear me roar?
I had to assign some days in the week to work on my business (Wednesday and Thursday). I had to commit to follow my projects through, find time to do them, and not get distracted.
The change has made me a lot more organized. I now assign priorities to each tasks, and I only focus on the most important ones. First, my family, then my business, then housekeeping. It is not possible to be perfect. I have achieved to think that I could do everything perfectly and still find time to be zen and happy with my life. So what if there is a little dust on the TV screen? Who cares? Who has time to watch TV anyway?
Focusing on important tasks has brought me a master’s degree in organization. I do not want to be perfect anymore. I just want to be happy.
Related posts:
- French Friday Guest post – Pastis: drinking yourself under the table I met Nathalie in the spring of this year during...
- Guest post: Autism signs and the importance of early screening When my son Matthieu had his two-year old exam with...
- Guest post: Toulouse, city of nocturnal emissions Ever since I met Andi during the 31DBBB Challenge, I...
- French Friday – Guest post – Paris for kids I am away at the Type-A-Mom conference, so blogging friend...
- Guest post: 11 ways to get through the holidays without fantasizing about divorce I found Alisa Bowman‘s blog Project Happily Ever After from...
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I think any mother, but especially those who either stay at home or work at home, can relate to this post. Thanks for sharing.