I was just saying (ok, maybe complaining) to my mom that in the past two plus months, every single time I have had a day to catch up on work projects there has been a sick kid or snow day. And today was no exception. Waking up this morning to discover that we had delayed openings for school was frustrating enough and by 8am school had been closed. Boy, did I get grumpy. As I sulkily sat down to figure out a plan for the day, though, I noticed that something interesting happened: when I took a deep breath and accepted the unexpected, I was then able to come up with a plan that would allow me to do some work but would primarily be focused on getting other obligations taken care of, tasks it would be easier for me to do with kids around, which would then free up time on other days. In other words, I was being flexible.
When our lives get super busy, remembering to remain flexible can be really challenging. We come up with a set idea of how things are going to go and then oftentimes convince ourselves that the approach we have come up with is the only option that will work. The reality, though, is that there is almost always another way. It may not always be the preferred way or the smoothest way, but there is usually another way.
Here are some of the things that I try to do in order to remain flexible (which is kind of against my nature) in these moments of unexpected curve balls:…