What's Saving Your Life Right Now?

I'm sure I've talked about "What's saving your life right now?" before, but it was on my mind this morning, one of those CRAZY mornings that found me nearly three hours into constant motion and commotion before I could as much as run a brush through my hair or brush my teeth.

I've been craving a bit of peace and quiet lately in these last 6-ish (hopefully, or less would be great too!) weeks of pregnancy, and it is just nowhere to be found. So I'm making do.

This is what is saving my life right now:

CONTAINMENT. I've brought back the pack and play, and we pushed through weeks of George protesting a daily stint or two of containment in it while I get something done. Yesterday it was used to unload the dishwasher while the girls were at school and again while I put dinner together since he was bugging (read: physically harming) the girls while they played nicely with Magnatiles. He is now mostly accepting of about a 10-minute stint of containment, which is typically all I need to get a quick task done.

If left uncontained, he does things like: eat chalk, eat candles, eat unripe fruit. You get the picture.

THE INSTANT POT. Yes, simple meals simplify our lives, but being 6+ years into simple meals, sometimes I want to cry because I just want something simple AND delicious, and our typical simple meals—quesadillas, noodles, chicken nuggets—do not satisfy me.

Enter the Instant Pot. I am anti-gadget, especially if something takes up significant space, but the Instant Pot feels like less of a gadget since I replaced our ancient slow cooker with this over the summer. We made this vegetable soup in it over the weekend and it was so good, and I must have had 4-5 helpings of this broccoli cheddar soup (which is saying something because despite being 8 months pregnant, I still have no appetite). I also used it to make rice yesterday and it was so simple, and I love that the insert can be put into the dishwasher.

WEATHER. I love fall in New Jersey, and this fall has been particularly beautiful, sunny, and mild. It makes a huge difference when we can be outside, and I've been taking advantage of it as much as possible. As soon as November hits and the cold comes, I get crabby and cold for about 5 months, so it's been nice to savor the beautiful weather. And if we're being honest, I've been militant about the kids getting as much fresh air and sun as possible before we're more house-contained, especially Eloise, who is cooped up in a school all day.

ENCOURAGEMENT. I had been in need of a new devotional, and after many months of searching, I came across Sally Clarkson's new devotional. I've only had it for about a week but have really been enjoying it. And I loved Sarah's new post. Truly helpful words of encouragement for moms seem to be few and far between—it's more about consumer-driven self-care that's not actually helpful to anyone—so I devour and cling on to the ones I do find.

GIVING MYSELF A PASS. I don't easily give myself a pass, but right now it's so hard just to do things like: breathe, walk, stay awake, stay asleep, and bend down so I'm trying to extend grace to myself for the other things. Including all things parenting. Will George be okay if he only wears pajamas and eats many of his meals on the road? Is it okay to plug Mimi into the TV while George naps so I can lay down and rest? Is it okay that Eloise isn't in any activities right now? Right now my answers are yes, yes, and yes.

This has also meant not feeling guilty about things like:

taking an extended break from church (although last weekend we tried a different church that is three streets away from our house as opposed to 20+ minutes and it really filled all of us up, so there may be changes in our future)

removing and filling in our raised vegetable garden beds with grass seed earlier this fall—we are no longer farmers. I had held on to this activity for 9 seasons now "because it's good for the kids", but I can no longer hold on to time consuming, back-breaking, unenjoyable-for-the-parent activities just to provide more enrichment in my children's lives. They are sufficiently enriched.

SELF REMINDERS. This phase can be soooooooo frustrating and tiring. And never before have I had an elementary school student, a preschooler AND a young toddler, while awaiting a newborn. When I find myself in a particularly overwhelming or frustrating moment, of which there are many, I try and shift it to a reminder of gratitude. ("Thank you for all these people to do laundry for.") I think I'm more aware than in previous years that you can love your life AND be totally overwhelmed by it sometimes. The two don't have to be mutually exclusive. Other things I say to myself fairly regularly: it's just a phase, you're gonna miss this, you can do hard things.

What's saving your life right now?