I often say “no” to new things.
This stage of life is busy. Just wiping hands after meals and trying to keep the floor clear of clutter seems like a full-time job with 3 kids working hard to ensure everything I do is undone. Then, of course, running a full time deal page, and life just keeps moving at an insane rate.
I am not a crafty mom. I am not a pinterest mom. I struggle with making extra messes because even though the activity was fun, the clean-up is not. And sometimes I struggle with just making a nice dinner because who knows if anyone in my family will even eat it, or if it will just cause complaints. There are days when mentally I don’t know if I can handle more whining if my kids don’t like what I cook. (FYI we don’t allow them to whine, but working on them not whining also takes a lot of parental energy!)
Oh, Dinner Rolls
A while back I decided I was going to be all fancy like my husband’s grandma and buy these nice dinner rolls she likes to make! They are so yummy! Then I found that they come in the freezer section. All right, I can do that. I bought them and they sat in our freezer for weeks. You see you have to thaw them first and let them raise and I just never remembered early enough! I mean, seriously, for a last minute mama like myself, that’s quite intense (which is also why I’ve only used our bread machine once hah).
Yesterday I decided come hell or high water I was going to make them! I knew they had to thaw overnight so I grabbed the bag and threw it in the fridge for today.
Have you made them before? Do you know how to make them?
Today I pulled them out of the fridge and started looking at the directions and found out that is absolutely NOT how you’re supposed to do it.
Oops.
I was worried I had made a giant roll mush in a bag, which of course sounds about as appealing as… not much.
However, I was not to be deterred. I quickly read the directions and realized if I could pull them apart I could salvage this mess. Sure enough, I was able to separate them into the pan.
They’re currently sitting on my stove, rising. At least I hope they are. I need to go check them!
I’m not gonna lie, doing something different can throw me for a loop. Maybe it does you, too? Even making dinner rolls from the freezer can be too much on the really hard mama days. Maybe I’m crazy. But my point is that I did it. I did something different. I did it wrong, but I think it’s going to turn out okay.
What’s next after dinner rolls? Sand Vases!
After lunch today my boys asked if we could do a fun project that had been sitting on our counter to do for a few weeks. I had been saying “no” over and over because I didn’t want the mess. But today, I said “yes” to making sand vases. After I put the baby down for a nap we got out the Melissa & Doug kit they’d been begging me to make.
And yes, we made a mess. Yes, there is still sand all over my floor, even after cleaning it up. And yes, the boys helped clean as well which is always an adventure. But, we did it. The boys loved it. They said over and over how cool it was.
Neither project I attempted today took very long. Neither project was from scratch. Neither project was elaborate in any way.
But both took me out of my comfort zone. Both were new and different. Both will mean something to my family.
And that’s what it’s all about. Even in the middle of the hard and the busy and the feeling overwhelmed and not knowing which task to tackle next, it’s good to say yes to something new and different once in a while.
It doesn’t have to be big, or elaborate, or fancy. It just need to happen.
Hugs, Mamas!
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