I was reading a magazine the other day, and it had a very lovely piece in it about what can happen in 15 minutes. The question was asked "What would you do if you had 15 more minutes in your day?" I don't know where they found these women, but apparently the lack of a spare quarter hour is keeping us from taking over the world. One woman said she would play more with her daughter. Another said she would sleep. Go to the gym, cook healthy meals, read a book...the list was not that surprising. Until I got to the woman who would learn another language. That was the last straw. Really? You'd learn French, if only you could find a spare 15 minutes a day?! That's the best excuse you could come up with for not being bilingual?
As women (and mothers are the worst at this) we tend to get caught up in the whole "no time for me" game. No one has it as rough as us. We are overtired, the house is a mess, the kids are eating pop-tarts for dinner, and our bodies look like blimps. All because we don't have the time. Well I say yeah right. Quit with the excuses. Do you watch TV? Then you have time to exercise. Do you spend time cruising the internet? That's your choice, and if you really wanted to have a clean house you'd just get off the damn computer and clean.
It's all about the choices. We choose to cook instant food. We sit on the couch when we could be out walking. We watch TV instead of playing with the kids. We sleep in an extra 15 minutes rather than learning another language. Okay, that one might not work. But you see what I mean. Don't whine. Don't complain about being overworked and tired. I'm not saying it's wrong to relax, cook KD, and turn a blind eye to the dust bunnies. If that's the way you want to live, go for it! But don't try to fool yourself (and all of us) into believing you just don't have the time to do differently. If it really means enough, you will find time for it. Whatever it is. Quit bitching and take responsibility for your choices!
I think I might have gotten a little too worked up about this magazine article. And it's not like I'm innocent, either. Yes, I do it too. In fact, if I didn't have to write this blog, I'm sure I would have time to write a book AND learn another language....
5 comments:
Time is such a funny thing... a day, a year can go by in an instant and a minute can burn into your memory so that it feels like it was an hour. Anyway, I recently blogged about this exact topic.. that I make every decision in my life and I shouldn't complain that I didn't have time because I chose to do other things. It's not that I couldn't find the time to do X or Y--rather, I didn't make the time. And as far as 15 minutes go, I just decided that I will dedicate 15 minutes a day to connecting with my spouse so that we don't become strangers.
Amen Sista! I too get so frustrated with moms who play the whole "pity me I have no time" game. We all make choices and have to live with them. Granted, not everything will get done in the day, especially if you are a working mom, but you can get the rest done tomorrow.
I think one big part of it is that a lot of parents don't make their kids responsible for cleaning up their own messes. Our kids are 3 and 5 and are required to pick up their toys and put their clothes away as well as putting the dirty ones in the laundry basket. They have to help, it helps me.
I loved reading your blog! So many people seem to pity moms making them out to be Martyrs. Granted their jobs are important, but we aren't martyrs.
You know, I have plenty o time. In part because I don't feel this upper-middle class obligation to have my children enrolled in every single possible activity, from sackbutt lessons to knitting circle to rugby for runts.
Hee hee, if I got off my butt right now the laundry might get folded all the way, but, I choose to sit here and look fo amusing blogs! Thanks for fulfilling my need! (found you on Michele's blogroll, by the way!)
I hear that! My time is what I make of it, and I have no one to blame but myself if I am not active, that's for sure. I do hear that from many women though - don't have the time...I don't understand why. Life is about choices, and sometimes choosing to do one thing will mean that you are choosing NOT to do something else. We can't have it all, as much as we might think we can.
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