An unexpected lesson learned

This last week did not go according to plan. Didn’t backfire, but it was more of a misfire and the end result is still fantastic.

Here’s the thing: the majority of the time I spend on the Internet is during naptime and after kids go to bed. If I get on while kids are awake, odds are I’m doing business and off again in minutes. So my goal was to use the time usually spent on the Internet or reading to regroup, organize, etc.

Day 1 went great! I devoted quiet time and brain power to creating a new weekly schedule for myself. It’s a good blend of structure and flexibility. Then, I even got a fantastic break in the form of girls’ night.

Day 2 went not so great. W was up crying from 3 am on. That day was spent holding my little sicky. A trip to the doctor confirms an ear infection, though both ears were infected and I had only suspected one. I learned that evening that my grandma had passed away. A bummer of a day if there ever was one.

Day 3 was a Sunday spent at church and dealing a still unhappy W.

Day 4 was much the same as Saturday. W still demanded to be held almost constantly. You’d think that rocking a child would mean, once naptime came along, that you’d be raring to get up and go. Not so. Rocking for hours on end takes most of it out of me. By the time the little guys were asleep and I managed to convince J to stay in his room for some quiet time, I gave up. I crashed on the couch and read. I know, I know…

Day 5 started to see a bit of light. I managed to tackle a few projects during naptime. But the rest of the day was devoted to cranky kids.

Day 6 was a productive morning and come naptime A took the place of his twin in the role of hold-me-now-Mommy. He was also found to have an infection in each ear. He had quite the rough time of it that evening.

Day 7 found all three kids feeling fine and dandy and me…not so much. Oy.

Thus (isn’t that just an awesome word?!), the things I am normally able to accomplish while kids are awake had to be undertaken during naptime this week.

But, as I said before, this week was a misfire, not a backfire. Here are the two main things that I learned this past week:

In this day and age, you can’t turn your back on the Internet. There was no way around it. I had to get online to pay the mortgage.

Yet, the biggest thing I learned in this experience didn’t happen until I actually got back online at the end of the week. I suspect that this is the goal that my Heavenly Father had in mind, knowing that I wouldn’t have the time to get organized like I thought: I’ve become disenchanted with the Internet. I don’t feel the pull to get online anymore. I started reading things that I’d missed, felt so “meh” about it, and ended up just getting back off. Hallelujah!

Now, don’t get me wrong, the Internet is a wonderful thing. It keeps me in better contact with people since I am not a good letter writer. It’s an excellent resource. It’s a great link to the “outside world.” It exposes me to all sorts of people, things, and ways of thinking that I would never know otherwise. It helped me finish my degree without having to haul a baby to class. It’s great and I love it. But there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. That’s what it became for me. When I got back online after my week long absence, I realized that I didn’t really miss it.

And so, I didn’t accomplish all that I wanted to this past week. But the addiction is broken. I don’t think I’ll ever break myself of the reading habit, but the time I spend online will be greatly reduced from now on. And that is a welcome blessing!:)