Balance, a day late to Tuesday Topics, which is soooooo apropos

 Jenny wrote a terrific Tuesday Topics post answering this question: How do you find balance during summer chaos?

And I? Am still thinking about the answer. I have been mainlining Lazy Genius podcast episodes as I always do when the season changes, and I have been struggling to name what matters, which is her brilliant first step. Enter Jenny's post and a total lightening bulb moment. BALANCE. 

Balance matters.

 In fact, if I were picking a word for my season (which, actually? According to my blog, I am), then that word would be BALANCE. Season 1, second semester, was FUN (because on paper, it did not look like a very fun season. So season 2, which, on paper, looks totally kid and house-heavy even though I have work to do and fitness goals to hit, is going to be BALANCE because that is the thing I would most like to have.

I cannot even tell you how relieved I am to have that first -- most important--planning step out of the way. I mean, of course I have done the summer calendar, so I know what our time commitments and activities are, but I have not let myself think about our daily rhythms and how to make sure my non-negotiables are smoothly incorporated. But now! I can! Because I know that BALANCE is the thing.

So many balls in the air this summer, and I want our days to include:

time to exercise (I exercise between 90 and 130 minutes a day, if you count my 60 minutes of walking)

time to get dressed and put on my makeup

time to work and think deeply

time for kid activities (dance and dive drop offs ad pick ups, plus swim lessons, plus Minnie's theme of the day)

time for kids to have fun (boring, 90's-style, unstructured fun)

time to tidy

time to feed everyone (thoughtfully and intentionally, even if that intent is pizza and vodka lemonades at the pool)

time to read

time to loaf on the couch

time for friends (mine and theirs)

BALANCE, you guys, is the key to making sure most of these thing happen in the course of most days, even when (especially when?) I am the only parent home (but not the only adult! we have FOUR ADULTS in our house this summer!)

Above please see a stand-in adult attending Minnie's school picnic since Ben and I were at Cooper's 8th grad graduation. (SOMETIMES THE BALANCE IS TENUOUS, and that's OK).

Also, side note: running in the summer SUCKS. Gvie me a 5-degree morning ANYTIME.