Let's pretend it's not still in the upper 90s in Texas for a minute and settle into the fact that it's mid-August and school is going to start in a week. Fall means new beginnings, change, and transition for so many of us. If I may take a moment to share what in the hot mess (I mean "new beginnings") is happening over here...
- Oldest child is going to Kindergarten in 8 days
- Baby (it's a girl!!) #3 coming at the very end of October
I'll stop there because isn't that enough for one family?! I'd like to propose that we use this month to 100% FREAK OUT and lose our minds! Just kidding, I'm proposing the opposite actually. Although we don't always have the privilege of knowing in advance when change is coming, we've known about our new level of chaos arriving Fall 2018 for several months now, and that does give me an advantage.
I have taken a "small steps" approach to getting ready for our new level of crazy this year, and it has actually saved me time, energy, and much of my sanity. So if you're aware that change might be coming soon, here are a few suggestions to make the transition easier.
Use TIME as your goal, not the project itself.
Most big projects dealing with transition take days, and it immediately feels overwhelming to begin the process. I have a 5 and 2 year old that I take care of full-time, so finding a few hours to work on a project with few distractions is literally impossible. Here are a few of the things involved in our Project Transition Rooms: build bunk bed, break down twin bed and move to attic, moving one kid (and all his belongings) to other room because he's now sharing with sister, getting a nursery ready for new baby, going through ALL the older sister's baby clothes to see what gets washed and put away and what gets donated because we don't actually need it, deciding what stays/goes/wants to be added to rooms for organizing and/or decor, going through toys to see what gets donated or sold since sharing a room means less space for everything - you get the idea!
Here's how I got started...
I knew I had 1-2 hours almost every day because my kids have nap/quiet time. Emily (5 year old) has one hour where she has to sit and listen to an audio book or do crafts/color pictures while Trip is sleeping. I used this time to chip away at the projects. I let go of the fact that I didn't have a chunk of time to get everything transitioned with their rooms, so I resolved that things would look a little wacky for several days in a row while I whittled away at everything involved in this big transition that changed everything about these two back rooms in our home.
It was more the mental shift of knowing, "it's okay for it to look like transition right now," that kept me less frustrated through this process. I knew I'd be coming back to wherever I had left off and that I'd finish it soon. Remember, your mind is STRONG and will determine your perspective on any situation. Take deep breaths through stressful situations to help reduce the release of the stress hormone, cortisol. When you reduce the release of this hormone, you'll notice you can think clearly, remain calmer, and are incredibly more productive!
It might also help if you take a before and after pic of what you've done each time you "whittle away," so you can get a visual of what's been accomplished in that short amount of time.