Four Years
Team Juggling Normal has been quietly living our lives and juggling all the things over the last year – and while some of us have been actively writing on other platforms, we have been pretty quiet here. As I reflect on four years of hosting/managing/authoring this blog, I am also planning the coming year and looking at a site revamp. So stay tuned for new things to come!
Over the last couple of months since I had my revelation about having all Big Kids, we have refreshed my son’s room with fresh paint and new furniture. As I’ve said many times before, I truly enjoy every age and stage of my kids. Our middle, who just finished 5th grade and is completely all boy, has been living his best summer life for the last few years. His room refresh follows that with bunk beds, including a trundle mattress, and the boys love hanging out in his room, nerf wars, and having a complete boy space. He really liked his old paint scheme – which included an antique basketball orange on his walls along with sports decals – but was ready for a change, and we went with grey walls with a navy stripe at the top, and a new baseball wall decal (personalized), along with his bunk bed, new bookshelf and a really big dresser (not pictured).
Four years of blogging has included several room refreshes for my kids – and I’ve tried to chronicle all of the home improvements along the way. We have lived in our 1914 home for 18 years now, and other than painting a room here and there we really didn’t update much until just a few years ago. Our kids each like to put their own stamp on their rooms, however, and I see no problem with changing their rooms as they grow. That said – I am holding out on painting over the cute giraffe mama and baby in our nursery room. But I suspect the youngest will win me over by the end of summer.
Do you like to paint? Or do you pay someone else to come in and paint for you? I have done both! If it’s an easy project or one room, I’ll do it myself if and when I have the time. If it’s bigger than one room or my kids want something more intricate, I find the best people for the job.
Isn’t that a microcosm of life? We take on the projects that we know we can handle, and sometimes we know we have over-committed ourselves and need to step back or delegate to someone else. Work/life balance is something we are all continually striving towards and trying to find the best answers for ourselves. Finding the Balance is always a challenge, and the answer can usually be found if we take a step back and look at the big picture, trying to figure out what is causing the most stress in our lives and what makes us all more happy. Summer Parenting can be the most stressful time of all – but also give us Happiness and joy, each and every day.
I started 2023 with my theme of Carpe Diem – and I have really been trying to seize every moment along the way. Last year was busy with all the kid things, a few family trips, helping my sister after her Breast Cancer surgery, and coming up with the idea for what became our epic Spring Break Road Trip. I survived our last summer with the oldest at home, and tried to live in the moment and take advantage of the fun along the way while I could. We only have 18 summers with our kids, and we should all make the most of every single one of them.
From Baby Time to Teenagerness, I will always say that our kids are the greatest joy and the greatest challenge of our lives. Squeezing every minute out of the time we have (whether they like it or not) is the best part. This summer, our oldest has a paid internship across the country, and I am so proud and happy for her to spread her wings – and only a little sad to not have her here with me every day. As our children grow and learn, taking on all the big and small things that are part of life, we try to give them wisdom and use those Teachable Moments along the way to show them how to make the best decisions. I still have a lot of parenting left to do – more than a decade of active kids at home still – and I won’t be an empty nester any time soon. We have more fun things planned this summer, in between all the baseball games…
This blog project has given me so much joy over the last four years! Thank you all for continuing to read our thoughts – even as life has been a lot this last year and I have certainly not been as prolific as I was. Here’s to more fun parenting tips, ideas for how to find the best work/life balance, juggling life, and all the things. And, as always, Cheers to the Moms out there!