But it's All Their Fault

Keeping with our goals of creating better relationships with family and friends and our 100 day change your life challenge, I want you to take a look at how many times a day you blame someone else for what's going wrong in your day. I have noticed that I am where I am because I became good at blaming someone else for why things didn't go well.

This happens without our knowledge. We decide to hit the snooze button one too many times in the morning. Then we're running around making sure everyone's up, throwing on whatever clothes happen to be clean and throwing Pop Tarts or some other convenience food at our kids for breakfast. When Tommy has a meltdown or Sarah can't find her shoes then we start to fall apart. We begin yelling or complaining that we're going to be late because Sarah didn't put her shoes in the right place or because Tommy wants to throw a tantrum.

On your way to drop them off at school, because they missed the bus, you get behind someone driving the speed limit. You get so frustrated. Why can't they go faster? What's wrong with them? Don't they know your kids are going to be late to school AGAIN?

This only spirals from one thing to another. You are so wound up that it seems like everyone is in slow motion. The checkout person at the grocery store is taking way too long. You have to clean up dog pee and poop from the carpet because you didn't have time to take him on his walk before you left with the kids. You forget to lay out the meat for that night's dinner and have nothing to fix at four o'clock. Then you end up ordering pizza or going through the drive-thru.

All of this makes you extra cranky when it comes time to help with homework and bath time. Instead of enjoying your kids you are short with them and maybe even yell a few times. Why can't they just hurry up and finish their homework? Why do they have to hose down the bathroom?

All of this because you wanted an extra 15-30 minutes of sleep. Was it worth it? Did you feel you deserved it because of the crazy day you had before? See the cycle? Instead of blaming others for why you are overweight, in debt, stressed out, removed emotionally from your husband and children; take a good look in the mirror.

What daily tasks can you accomplish that will allow you to change those unwanted realities of your life? Get up that extra 30 minutes and actually have breakfast with your kids or even with just you. Creating a quick and healthy meal is possible and eating it in a relaxing atmosphere instead of in the car helps you with the peaceful time before attacking the world's demands.

Plan your meal for that night in the morning or the night before. Set out the clothes you want to wear the night before. Help your kids do this too. Those that can dress themselves won't be asking you where their socks are because you took 5-10 minutes the night before to prepare for tomorrow.

Know what you want in life and take baby step EVERY day in order to reach those goals. We're implementing routines at night and in the morning to help eliminate chaos. None of the kids likes picking out their clothes the night before but they are enjoying having them ready in the morning. Stop using "but it's all their fault" and start being proactive in your daily life.