Just say no

I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. {Taken from Anne of Green Gables}. Seriously. This month. This season. It’s my absolute favorite time of year. Yes, it’s our wedding anniversary. Yes, it’s my birthday. Yes, it’s my daughter’s birthday. Yes, there’s Halloween. But it’s not even really about those. I can’t argue that they don’t make the month extra sweet. But there’s something about the air. The mood. And everything in sight. Fall is more of an attitude rather than a season. Collectively, it’s all so strikingly crisp and refreshing. Well, now I sound like an advertisement for cider beer. Cider beer! Let’s add that one to the list. Because, yum.

October has notoriously been a busy one for our family. With all those aforementioned events, our weekends are usually booked well in advance. And that doesn’t even include all the weeknight activities and the daily grind. So the month that I love so very much passes by in the shortest blink. And I’m not sure I like that very much. Therefore, I made a big decision this year. I decided to say no. I’m saying no to things that are usually on our agenda. Including the fact that I’m not hosting a big birthday celebration for my daughter {who will be turning two}. Yep! All the Pinterest plagued mothers are gasping. But they can gasp away. Because I realized sometimes all the hoopla is for all the wrong reasons. And this year, I made the decision to reserve that day just for our family of four. And I feel good about it. Really good about it.

There are so many times that I find myself wondering where in the heck my quality time went. Like, how did I just float through the week without any of it?! Between the school shuffle. The work shuffle. The sports shuffle. The church shuffle. The grab and go shuffle. And the everything-in-between shuffle. There aren’t many moments that I sit back and think, geez…we just spent too much time together as a family. How can I put an end to that?! So I’m taking this month as an opportunity to stand up to the expectations and do something that makes me happy. My family of four. They make me happy. And spending {quality} time together makes me happy. So that’s what this month is going to be about. Because the window of opportunity is a small one. Traveling basketball starts soon. The holidays are on the horizon. The freaking cold weather is just around the corner. It’s all going to take me by storm. Like it usually does. So this is my effort at banking up some bonding before we’re stretched in every direction. Will my family groan at my ideas to love on one another for the month? Maybe. Do I care? Nope. Because I’m the queen of this castle and gosh darn it, we’re going to spend time together. And we’re going to like it.

Life gives us MANY exasperated moments with each other. We annoy one another. We fight with one another. We disgust one another. And we disappoint one another. That stuff is hard. But that’s how the story goes. So it becomes imperative to find ways to remind ourselves that our little unit is important. The gift of time is only a gift when we use it wisely. Prioritizing is a must. And the fear of letting others down needs to retire. Because saying no in order to say yes is perfectly okay.