What is Graceful Planning? Help for the overwhelmed mom can be found in just a few changes to your routine.
Have you ever noticed how a ballerina flows effortlessly across the stage? Her long limbs gracefully keeping rhythm with the music. She glides from one side of the stage to the other with beauty and elegance.
If you saw her during practice and rehearsal, you might not think the same thing. She put in long hours and hard work BEFORE her performance. She prepared her body and mind. Then when the curtains rise, she can do what she does best – DANCE.
This is what we want to do when planning our time as stay at home moms (or work from home moms). We will put in the work upfront, before the day’s demands come knocking at our doors. We want to approach each day with grace and move through our routines effortlessly.
Because graceful planning is also grace-FULL planning. We give ourselves grace knowing that we don’t have to be perfect but just keep showing up for our family one day at a time, one step at a time.
The definition of graceful is broken up into two ways it can be used – in movement and behavior.
Graceful is moving in a smooth, relaxed, attractive way, or having a smooth, attractive shape and is behaving in a polite and pleasant way. Isn’t this how we want to plan our days?
We want to move through the morning, into the afternoon and evening in a relaxed, attractive way all while having a polite and pleasant attitude. Sound like a fairy tale?
If your life seems more hectic and overwhelmed than graceful, you are not alone. When I became a stay at home mom, I tried to plan my schedule and to-do list with ALL. THE. THINGS. that are expected of us. I also started my own homemade small business at the same time and my life was anything but graceful. Anxiety, overwhelm, anger… it was the total opposite of relaxed, polite and pleasant.
I’m not perfect by any means and I am still learning, but God showed me several areas of my life that needed an overhaul.
Thank God for His never-ending grace he shows us and “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23
Through this series of posts, we will walk together through letting go of the color-coded calendar and embracing a more relaxed, but more intentional, routine to the stay-at-home mom life.
(P.S. I still love a good color-coded calendar but we need to unpack our schedule and slowly, intentionally only add back those things that are truly beneficial. Like a meal plan or cleaning schedule.😊)
My heart is to help the overwhelmed mom by getting back to basics. It is okay to not do it all, in fact, we weren’t made to do it all. We will learn how to create routines and rhythms to our days that will allow us to live gracefully and plan our time with things that matter.
Here are some of the topics we’ll cover:
- Teach us to number our days – we only have 24 hours each day. How are you spending it?
- Time that Matters – What are your priorities? Free worksheet
- First Things First – this one thing is the key to all others
- Gentle Routines – adding things to our routine a little at a time – no overwhelm
- Distractions – eliminating things that steal our time
- Your “Tool” Box – important things to keep on hand
I recently read a friend’s post that said don’t let your blessing become a burden. Wow! That really hit home. Being a stay-at-home mom is such a blessing to your family. Don’t let this time in your life become a burden. My prayer is that something you find here will bless you so that you can be even more of a blessing your family.
May the Lord bless and keep you.
Bonnie