Shut the World Out

Sometimes as a mom, we have to shut the world out. Life can get hectic and stressful when there are too many people taking from us at once. It can be as complicated as over committing yourself to things and demanding relationships outside the walls of your home to as simple as the phone ringing too many times in one day. Moms know when those moments are because signs of stress start to overcome us. The baby is crying, the laundry needs to be switched to the dryer, your inbox is full of emails to reply to, the phone is ringing, you never ran the errand your husband asked you to do this morning, the toddler just spilled something, dinner is burning on the stove, and the doorbell just rang. I won't even describe the day where this all happens and you are supposed to be at the dentist in 15 min.

No matter how organized we try to be and no matter how well we master managing our time, Mama said there would be days like this. These are the days when shutting out the world to just focus on what goes on inside the walls of your home is necessary.

Let the phone ring
Ignore the email (in fact don't turn the computer on)
Close the front curtains so no one knows you are home
Reschedule appointments
Stay home (unless it's of course to run that errand for your adoring husband)

So many times I've wanted to run from the house screaming and pulling my hair out when what I really needed to do was stay in the house and shut the world out. It's a protective mode to protect the sanity of what is on the inside of our house...our family. It's like calling a huddle and getting the team to regroup. Sometimes this shut-out lasts just for the afternoon but other times it has lasted for days! Instead of freaking out, stressing out, having a break down, just shut out the world until order has been regained.

It's not always easy to shut out the world when we've over committed ourselves. That's when some serious pruning of our schedules may need to be done. I've had to prune and re-prune, and re-prune again when it comes to my always evolving schedule.

But remember that our first priority is our family; our husband, our children, our home. Everything else has to come after the first most precious things are cared for. Shut out the world if you have to. It's worth it from time to time.