Natural Balance

Social media is a rough place. The internet plays games with our minds. We see the tiniest aspects of peoples lives and feel that we should compare ourselves to them. We read blog posts and articles about how we should best be living our lives. Then we feel like failures when we can't measure up. I decided, in the spirit of transparency, I thought I would air out all the ways that I am a walking hypocrite.

Diet: I eat a diet full of fruits, veggies, and whole grains. I also have drink a Pepsi a day. I don't like coffee, but my caffeine addiction is real.

Parenting: I make sure my son gets 30 hours a day outside, rain or shine, BUT he also has his own tablet and spends an equal amount of time a day on that.

Skincare: I make most of my lotions, and if I don't, I buy ones with good ingredients from companies that I trust. This applies to the sunscreen I buy to apply to my son and I's face. BUT, the sunscreen that gets applied to the rest of our body, is the highest spf "sport" version I can find. I go through much sunblock, and we sweat so much, during the summer in Missouri, that I would go broke if I purchased sunblock with all the natural ingredients and no toxins. Plus, we get sun-burned very easily, so I like to be protected.

Household: I use mostly natural cleaning products in the home and I love how well they work. that being said, once every two months, my floors get a good mopping with bleach. I have two large dogs, a messy five year old, there is always dirt on my floor, and bleach gives me the assurance that any outside germs are dead. Lord know what gets dragged in on our shoes and boots after a hike or afternoon at the dog park.

Healthcare: I use natural remedies at home to deal with common colds and ailments. I believe that our diet is directly connected to our health and we can treat many ailments through nutrition. I believe that a good balance between natural practices at home, and the healthcare system is necessary. I could write a whole separate post about this, and maybe I will, but not today. I see a therapist, which I firmly believe everyone should be forced to do just to talk for an hour a week. I also treat my ADHD with medication. I have read articles about other ways to treat it, but medicine is the only thing that works and makes me function like a normal person.

I could probably add a million more things to this list.

My house is a mess.

I have two baskets of folded laundry that haven't been put away since they were cleaned two days ago.

Sometimes I forget my grocery totes and have to use plastic bags.

My kid and I eat at McDonald's once a month.

According to my mom, it looks like my house hasn't been dusted in ages. Turns out, it hasn't. I am five foot two. If it's over my head, I don't see it. Top of my six foot china cabinet? Nope. The top shelf in the cabinets that I literally have nothing on them cause I can't reach them? Never.

When I was putting up curtains in my living window, I put them up wrong. I was doing it by myself and the window is nine feet long. The curtain panels were two different colors and were supposed to alternate. I laid them out [ white - tan - white - tan - white ] How did they go up? [ white - white - tan - white - tan - white ] Have I switched them? No. Even with my step stool, I can barely reach them and it hurts.

None of us are perfect. Our houses are rarely spotless. Our nutrition is perfect 100% of the time. Sometime we use technology to keep our kids busy. Stop beating yourself up if you're not perfect either. None of us are. This is called balance. Balance is natural and necessary to keep us all sane.