Monday, September 9, 2013

Worry not...

I worry about a lot of things in life that are unnecessary. I worry more about the little things than the big things and sometimes it gets the better of me. This weekend is a great example of how I worry and how things always work out. Let me explain.

My husband was a co best man in a friends wedding this past weekend in Austin. My husband wanted me and the kids to go and from the get and go, I worried. I worried about the kids being able to stay in the same hotel room, I worried about how I would get around if he had the car, I worried about having the two kids and no help all weekend and how that was not going to be much fun. I worried too much. I was concerned about the logistics and how everything was going to work out. It turns out that since his parents were going to be going to the wedding as well, that they would be willing to let one of our kids sleep in their hotel room with them. This was a solution to my kids sleeping separately, but then it brought on a whole new set of worries. What if whatever kid is in their room wakes them up? They will have to be up early too and I felt bad about that. But, aside from all my concerns, we packed up and headed to Austin.

My husband was super sweet as always and reassured me that I am an excellent mom who uses my resources and problem solves to keep the kids going and happy often and that it would all be ok. We also had my sister who has recently moved to Austin volunteer to come to the hotel and watch the kids for us, so I could go to the rehearsal dinner Friday night kid free and go to the wedding Saturday kid free! What a huge help! Here is what ended up happening:

Friday: We woke the kids up at 6:30am to get an early start. My worry was that this would mess up their schedule, it didn't. They were excellent along the way. We stopped for breakfast along the way and the kids ate and were very happy and content the rest of the way.  I was unable to check into the hotel until 3, so one of our other friends who lives there volunteered his house for the day. My husband was to be at the grooms house around 11. He dropped himself off and then gave me and the kids the car. We stopped off to have lunch and both kids behaved and did very well and then we set off to my friends house. The kids played there. We all had a good time. I set up two pack and plays in two separate rooms where both kids napped successfully! Our friend ended up coming to the house to work a little bit, so I was able to go to the grocery store and get some items for the kids to eat for dinner since we were staying downtown and there wasn't alot of kid friendly stuff in the area. The kids woke up, we loaded up, headed to the hotel and arrived at the same time my in-laws did. They, plus a nice bell hop, got us to our room with all our luggage and baby gear. The rest of the afternoon was great! The kids played and enjoyed the view, our daughter went to sleep in my brother in laws room which was next door to ours (since he wasn't coming in until Saturday) and my sister and X had a great night together. I enjoyed a lovely rehearsal dinner and didn't have to worry. Our son and daughter slept through the night and our son, who was in the room with us, was put on the other side of the queen bed (since we had 2) and didn't even know he was in the room with us.

Saturday: Our son woke up around 7:15, but he didn't stand up (bc if he had, he would have seen us and wanted out.) He just laid in his bed and talked to himself and our daughter (who was on the monitor), played quietly in her bed as well. We got up and ate breakfast and my husband was off to do his best man duties. I was easily able to keep the kids busy. We went from our room to a couple hours playing in grandma and grandpa's room (X enjoyed going back and forth and knocking), our daughter was able to nap in one room while we all hung out in the other. We just kept our son up instead of letting him nap which was fine. We went for a walk before lunch. Had lunch in our room, we played a lot with different toys mommy had stashed away and only brought out when they were bored with the other and they went down easily again that night under my sisters supervision. Our son slept in grandma and grandpas room this night since he is the harder sleeper and O went in our room and didn't know the difference. They both slept in until 8!

Sunday: I finally got my husband back! And the kids went home with grandma and grandpa so that we could spend some time in Austin with our friends. I picked them up this morning (Monday).

The point to the story is this: life is too short to worry all the time. I know this and I constantly tell myself this though I still struggle with it. One of my favorite versus that I quoted the whole way down there is "Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7 I did and everything worked out. If I had just let everything go and put it all aside as my husband had said, then I could have saved myself a lot of time and trouble! And to say this, my husband is amazing! He knows I am worry wart and each and every time, he holds my hand, solves my concerns as best he can and then encourages me to be amazing. He was an excellent co best man and looked great in his suit at the front too! And he was right. I was able to go with the flow this weekend, enjoy the time I had with my kids and their grandparents, enjoy time away from them as well for a much deserved mommy break and handle everything with ease and success!! I had help. My sister was awesome and so generous to give us her time two nights in a row! My in-laws were great and had fun with the kids and helped out a lot. And my sister in law was great keeping the kids entertained on the drive home. And I did great. I am not bragging and I am not being boastful, I am simply stating something that God and my husband see in me that I need to acknowledge more and that is this: I can handle things better than I think, I am an awesome mom, I am a great, loving, and supporting wife, and I have God on my side who allows me to handle things without fear, anxiety or stress. This weekend was excellent! We had no tantrums, no crying, no complaining and I am so glad that my husband was my rock and encouraged us to go.