A Place to Belong: How to Spend More Time at Home

In the midst of your busy life, have you ever wondered how to spend more time at home? There’s something to be said for staying home.  The world is full of activities, errands, rehearsals, practices—you name it.  Meanwhile, too many meals on the run or around the TV, hours in the car and no clean socks multiply until your stress level reaches the breaking point.  What’s a mom to do?  Here are a few ideas:

Limit your family’s activities!  Season by season, carefully evaluate what you’re willing to drive to, pay for and wait on.  Multiply by number of children, subtract for babies or toddlers and be realistic.  Husbands are notoriously accurate in determining how much wives should be involved in because they have to live with the stressed woman.  Ask him (and then don’t jusify, argue or ignore his advice).

Make home a pleasant place to be.  I don’t know about you, but when my home is orderly and pretty, I’d rather be there than anywhere else.  Chaos and dirt can cause us to want to escape.  Trouble is, it’s still there when you get home.

Make hard decisions. If you’re already in over your head, it may be time to blow the whistle and make some changes to cut back on outside-the-home responsibilities.  My husband always tells me to feel free to take his name in vain and tell others “my husband said I can’t” because people don’t often question you or try to talk you into it when the hubby said no.  I promise the organization will go on without you.  You won’t look back someday and wish you’d added more stress and busy-ness to your life.

Guard your home life.   Home is where the memories of childhood and family life are made.  Sure, you remember the big game and that great performance, but home should be where your family “belongs.”  Hours spent in the calm, nurturing, safe place called home will strengthen your family for the necessary hours in a tough world.  Make sure there’s plenty of home life to fill up their hearts.