Busy is a state of mind for moms

A teenage girl in my ward and I had an interesting and perplexing interchange recently. I asked her if she could please send out an email to remind her fellow young women about an upcoming activity.

She replied, “Oh, well, could you do it because I know you have more time than I do.

I couldn’t help it — I laughed out loud. She looked confused. That’s when I realize she was 100 percent serious.

Now I know I thought the same thing when I was a teenager. I had seminary at the crack of dawn, school for eight straight hours, after-school activities, mutual and then hours of homework before I got to cram in my five hours of sleep. Then I had to do it all again when my dad would come into my room and tip over my mattress to get me out of bed. Good times.

Of course, now looking back, I envy teenagers because they have so much time that is all about them. I’d love to spend a day learning and reading and basically focusing on myself.

Every stage of life seems like the hardest, busiest period of life so far. When I was a teenager, I thought I was the busiest (and probably most important) person on the planet. But when I was working at my first job, I would have given anything for the free time of a teenager. Then I had a baby and I envied the freedom of my working friends. Now that I have two kids, I think first-time moms don’t know how good they have it.

Following this pattern, I am understandably terrified of what comes next. How much busier can I be to make parenting two little ones look like a walk in the park? I can’t imagine it, but I know it’s coming.

So I’ve been thinking lately about how to de-busy my life. First, I’ve had to embrace the idea that busy is a state of mind and not a state of being. I may have a lot to accomplish, but that doesn’t mean I am busy.

Or some days I may get two things actually “done,” but I could feel like I’ve been running around all day.

Here are a few of the things I’ve come up with in my quest to feel less busy: