NaBloPoMo Day 14: Small Victories

Since my days are a bit more chaotic now that baby boy is here, I am finding myself with less time and energy to keep up with various aspects of my life such as my messy house, appearance, and relationships.  While I feel like I am doing a much better job of keeping myself balanced this time (with the Cub, I felt like I was in a constant state of disarray for 4 straight months) there are still plenty of things that fall by the wayside, for good reason of course, but it's nevertheless frustrating.

But instead of worrying about the broader spectrum of things that I cannot do right now, such as make my house look anything but totally lived in by 4 people and 2 cats, I will delight in some of the things that I am able to do and consider them my victories of productivity.  I can't expect myself to do half as much as I could 2 months ago, and I shouldn't.

So here is a list of some of the small victories I have that at least make me feel like I have some ability to control what happens around me:

• Making dinner.  Even if it's haphazardly throwing stuff into the crockpot, it feels good to have made a meal for my family.  (though it feels just as good to have someone make it for me :P)
• Having an entire conversation with a friend.  If I were a plant, friendships would be my sunshine.  I cannot go more than a few days without talking to a friend or I start to go a bit insane.  It's much harder to both see and talk with my friends while caring for a newborn, but it is not nearly impossible, and definitely necessary for me.
• Putting an outfit together that makes me feel cute and like myself.  Sometimes it's jeans and a t-shirt, sometimes it's a dress with boots.  As long as I feel like I actually put an outfit together, I consider that a victory.
• In the same vein as wearing a cute outfit, straightening my hair is a victory.  Heck, washing my hair is a HUGE victory!
• Doing some household chore, even for just 5 minutes.  I don't love it, or even like it, but it feels good to clean or organize SOMETHING.  It feels like I live here rather than just take up space.

These small victories feel great, and help me stay sane, but the greatest victory I have right now is watching my boys and knowing that I can take care of them.  The hubs goes back to work next week for the first time in 9 months, and while I am super excited that we will have income again, I am terrified of taking care of the boys by myself.  Getting through each day and feeling good about myself will be a huge victory, and I really can't ask for much more than that.