![\"e](\"http:\/\/images1.blisstree.com\/files\/2009\/12\/e-and-chris-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMargins are the blank spaces on paper, as most of you know.\u00a0 They are the areas that were meant to be left blank, to allow the words on the paper to be more easily read, be more important, stand out. Now, some people write in the margins. They doodle in them and fill them up until the actual words on the paper are hard to read. That can be stressful.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Our lives are the same way. You need to leave margins or pockets of time around your activities. If you fill up the margins then you and your kids are going to be stressed constantly. Women are getting better about nurturing themselves <\/a>I think, or at least understanding why they should. Now that needs to spread to the rest of the family. Kids, especially, are more\u00a0 stressed <\/a>than ever before.<\/p>\n Anytime I see a family where everyone is bickering and sarcastic I can guess that they are overloaded with activities. School, work, soccer, piano, skating, playdates…It is absolutely too much and it wears on everyone involved. As the bickering increases Mom often (mistakenly) thinks the kids are spending too much time together or are bored and schedules more lessons and activities. Pretty soon dinner is fast food in the car and the house is little more than a closet.<\/p>\n Margins give us all space to think, breathe, and be recharged. It is a good thing to be bored once in awhile; it breeds creativity. Sure, all of the things you are doing might be educational, healthy, and great but they also may be causing your margins to shrink to nothing.<\/p>\n It may be time to make the decision to pull back from some of your activity. While learning about working together on a team is important, learning to occupy yourself when you are not entertained is also important. Try to give yourself and your family at least 2 hours a day of non-scheduled activity and see if, over a period of time, your house does not relax. Choose the best and let go of the rest!<\/p>\n Image: marye audet<\/a><\/p>\n Post from: Blisstree<\/a><\/p>\n\n