It’s 5:33 AM, and you almost knocked your water bottle off the nightstand in a half-awake, urgent attempt to silence your second alarm (or into the baby’s basinet if you’re me). It’s the second week of school and you’re feeling a little less “Pinterest” and a little more “Rosanne”. The excitement of posting everyone’s perfectly polished “First day of ____” on a chalkboard is gone. “THIS…SUCKS….” you think as you attempt to get it together before waking up the village. (The puking dog in the middle of the night combined with the temperamental AC in the humid summer evening were not helpful contributors to your current mood.)
It’s easier to get motivated when something is new! When we buy a new car, we try a “no food” rule that lasts a few weeks as to enjoy the new car scent as long as possible. When we buy new pots and pans we make sure to use the no-stick spray before every omelet. And when we begin a new start, (January 1st, first day at the new job, first day at school etc.) we typically put in 100 percent… until we don’t. The problem is that after the “new car scent” or the “non stick surface” wears off, it becomes easy to change the rules to allow us to slack off. Don’t get me wrong… I’m in that same new car letting my kid eat goldfish on the way to Taekwondo too. THAT is the time we need to push ourselves to keep the momentum going.
Something I always tell my failing students (school counselor in a k-8) is that it is MUCH easier to go up a hill on a bike with a head start. If you try to go up a hill from the base of it without any momentum you will likely be unable. (I didn’t say you can’t…but it would definitely be much harder). If you are already peddling as you approach a hill, however, the hill will be less difficult to climb. (Then sometimes they stare at blankly me as I re-explain to them that it is just easier to start school off right by putting in the time and making decent grades from the beginning. It is way harder, however, once they slack off and start failing to then come back up out of that ditch.)
So how do we find that motivation? How do we tell our second week self to push through the urges to hit snooze? How do we find the drive to be the mom who has the same excitement as chalkboard mom from last week?? Here are some of the things that float around in my head to keep me motivated during the second week “hangover”:
1. Time Travel
Obviously unless you have the Delorian, you don’t have the physical ability to travel to the past. Try, however, to think back to the week prior and really place yourself in those moments. Attempt to remember how much happier you were. Were you feeling proud of all the planning that led up to this pivotal Instagram post? Were you feeling relieved that you made it to school AND work on time (or back home to feed the baby before a starvation meltdown)? Try to really harvest those feelings and bring them with you to the present as an extra boost of motivation.
2. Work Backwards
I know once the kids are in bed at night, its GO TIME for your guilty pleasures (G.O.T., House of Cards, Bachelor in Paradise…whatever, no judgement 😉 and the LAST thing you want to do is make a few lunches for tomorrow…. DO IT!! I promise you that morning mom will be SOOOO thankful and forever in debt to nighttime mom. Morning mom (who lost 7 minutes from the dog refusing to poop) will be so grateful at the ease of the morning with lunches out of the way.
3. Routine
I will safely assume the most of you brush your teeth daily. With that assumption, I ask how many times do you forget to do it? (hopefully rarely…again no judgement 😉 In all seriousness though, it is highly unlikely that you have “brush teeth” written down anywhere on an agenda. This is because you don’t need to be reminded to brush your teeth. You typically don’t even have to think about it; you just do it. This is something you have been doing since you were old enough to do it yourself, and it has just become a normal part of your day. Similar to brushing teeth, putting on deodorant, and drinking coffee; things that become a habit or part of a routine require little thinking or planning. Without thinking about these things, you don’t have time to argue with yourself or rationalize why you should not do them. I Find that if I go running Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, I am less likely thinking about “if” i will run on Thursday. I just know i will (though you better believe that on Monday I am negotiating the hell out of not running since I was off the last two days).
4. Work Smart Not Hard
Use the older ones!! If you have any children over the age of 4, they can do an exorbitant amount of things for themselves. Give them tasks to be in charge of each morning. The 5 year old can get everyone’s shoes ready, the 8 year old can fill up water bottles or even make breakfast… whatever… but don’t do more than you have to. Again, it’s all about habit. If your 4 year old is expected to get herself dressed and ready every morning (yes, you’ll need to teach her how to do this but I promise it’s worth it) then she will.
5. Magic Potion
Ok, yah…there’s no magic potion for motivation. If there was, I would be buying stock. And tips 1-4 may be things you have heard a million times before; but for some reason, we all need a little reminder some times. For some reason, you read this blog all the way to step five (Or maybe you just skipped to the magic potion). Sometimes we are looking for that inspirational quote or amazing picture to carry us through to the weekend with a smile. Sometimes we are just trying to survive…and that’s okay too. Just don’t be too hard on yourself, and make sure to remind yourself that you can always be better.
Well…there is a magic potion for at least feeling better at the end of the day …just remember to make the lunches first 😉
xoxoLove, Liv & Leen
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