It’s been quite some time since I last posted. It feels like ages really. Yet the guilt I would normally have isn’t there – or well, not fully at least. And yes I said guilt. I have always had this sense of letting others down if I didn’t post, even though my starting Shell and Olive was not about others, but about my having a place to share my thoughts – whether others wanted to read them or not. Now the reason I have taken a wee hiatus is simple. Family first.
As many of you have followed along on instagram as well, you are quite familiar with the fact that ever since Sebastian started preschool we have been inundated with sickness. The plague really. So I have taken time away to care for my little ones, and myself. I started to fall into the trap that social media can be. The trap of comparison, which is all too simple to fall into. I can choose to compare myself or I can choose not to. So I wanted check myself, for lack of a better term, and remember why I started this in the first place. Not to compare my life to anyone elses, but because I enjoy writing and I’m a natural born sharer. Sometimes too much so. lol
During this time I read a great quote, “don’t think about what you don’t have, but think about what you do have.” Simple concept right? One you’d think would be easy to live by. Yet we compare all the time. Whether it’s intentional or not. But I don’t want to live like that. Now, that doesn’t mean comparing won’t happen, or that I’m suddenly above it all and won’t ever see something that someone else has and think, “wow, I’d like that too.” I am human after all. But what that means is allowing myself to just stop. To unplug. To spend a lazy Saturday morning in our pjs while the big boys watch cartoons, just hanging out with EM and Evvy. Not rushing off to do the perfect instagrammable activity.
Something EM and I have noticed, is that with Evelyn being the youngest, it is often difficult to have those one on one moments like we had with Sebastian. Something we strive for, is to have that alone time with each of the kids. For the boys that means going to the park, or even having an in-car picnic watching the jets take off. For little Miss Evelyn that means watching her crawl around our room and reading books, while her brother are doing their own thing.
Such simple moments, yet those are the ones that can often be taken for granted. I don’t want to be that person anymore. The one that is so focused on tomorrow that she forgets how beautiful today is. I want to be the girl that slows down, that throws on a pair of her husbands incredibly comfy pj pants (seriously they are so much better than women’s), cuddles up in her favorite Dearfoams slippers, and enjoys a cup of tea as her baby is still a baby. Because y’all, I know you hear it all the time, but time flies! To quote Bil Keane, “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.” Let’s not rip into it because we are so desperate to get to tomorrow, but let’s savor each moment we unwrap.
This was so perfect for me today. It’s so hard in this day and age not to play the comparison game. I want to be the hands on get in the floor mom too. I want my kids to remember me as the mom who played alongside them instead of having my face constantly glued to the phone. It’s easy to let that creep in until you suddenly realize just how much it’s taken over. I think breaks from social media and technology are so needed and a great thing to do. Your family is beautiful! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for this! As I’m sure many have noticed I have not posted in quite some time. For this reason. I just needed to focus on the little things. I’m so glad this helped – my goal is to always extend a sense of solidarity. Something we moms often don’t get.