Dear Friends,

This spring we have been watching a lot of movies. We had never seen the Fast and Furious Movie Series. So we started with the first one. These films wear me out! By the time the credits roll; I am exhausted!

Have you been running around with the same fast and furious mode of existence? If you stand back and look at your home; you can actually see your path though the house. You have been putting out fires as fast as you possibly can; leaving what you were doing and never getting back to that project. I know you are bone-weary. It is time for us to stop being frazzled and stay focused.

Lots of time we are busy doing something when the children get real quiet. We are hyper-focused on what we are doing and the next thing we hear is a commotion. That’s when there is a clean-up on aisle 4. I saw the cutest picture the other day of a toddler standing on the family basset hound’s shoulders to get into the refrigerator.  It was probably Mom who took the picture, but imagine a gallon of milk splat on the floor and you trying to figure out how that happened. I have a simple remedy for this before that will stop it from happening.

Get your babies to help you with your projects. For example, you want to work on your scrapbooking; put your baby in their high chair and let them draw or color. If they are older give them some scissors to cut out construction paper and glue pieces of paper together. I know you are yelling at me! “When do I have time to scrapbook!”

Now don’t get fast and furious with your fingers to send me a frustrated reply. We have gotten quick to respond when someone angers us. When we learn to control our urges to say ugly things in writing or even with our voice; then we will know we are FLYing. Because when you love yourself, you will not do or say anything that will make you feel guilty.

I grew up with Simon and Garfunkel; as I was pondering this essay this song kept creeping into my head.  Slow down you move too fast. You got to make the morning last. Just kicking down the cobblestones. Looking for fun and feelin’ groovy.

When you slow down you can look for the fun. The groovy part has to do with our routines. We get into a groove doing one habit after another. This frees us to get things done and look for a little fun.  Let’s get back to the gallon of spilled milk.

This is your opportunity laugh and teach your child that there is humor in everything. Mommy doesn’t bite your head off if you make a mess! And Mommy loves you! Let’s clean it up together.

So slowing down doesn’t mean you are mopey. We can set our timers and do a two minute interval of fun and excitement.

Are you ready to FLY?

FlyLady