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Daylight savings time indicates that spring is on the horizon. Change is in the air. The days are longer and the weather turns warmer. However, I wasn’t quite ready for the unexpected impact that the time change would have on our family’s schedule. Our family had gotten into a good groove with our morning routine. I was used to getting my son prepped and dressed to head to his grandmother’s house, my husband dropping him off, and I headed to my workout class before work each morning. Then the time changed and suddenly my son was waking up an hour later which threw our WHOLE morning routine off. Everything felt rushed. And to make matters worse, I was missing my morning workout class. I began getting frustrated. I felt guilty for slipping on my workout routine. I felt guilty for rushing my time with my son each morning. For a whole week, I just couldn’t get a handle on doing our morning well. I needed to rethink our morning routine and schedule for this new season.
Being in a new season is usually pretty recognizable to us. Whether it’s getting a new job, starting a new business, entering a new relationship, becoming a mother, moving to a new city, starting school...new seasons can be easily identifiable. But transitions into the new seasons can be messy as we go through periods of adjustment. As we are moving from one season and into another, how often do we give ourselves grace as we transition? Grace at being a beginner. Grace as we stumble, make mistakes, figure it out, adjust. Grace as we “level up.” For me, there have been a few key things that have helped me navigate new seasons.
Revisit existing habits and systems. I’ve realized that with each new season, comes a new opportunity to tweak and change any of my old habits that no longer fit the new season.
Seeking out new communities of support that can help me navigate the new season I am entering into. Particularly, people who have experience in the direction I am headed.
Managing self-talk. This has been a game-changer for me. Metacognition, simply put, is thinking about one’s thinking. I’ve been challenging myself to pay attention to how I am thinking about situations, particularly when doing something new. Replacing “this is hard” with “this is new”. Just the simple act of managing my self-talk has been helpful in managing change.
As a first-time mom, I’m learning to give myself grace as I take on the new identity of motherhood. My son recently turned one. As I reflect on his first year of life and my first year as a mother, I look back and realize it was a year of “trial and error”, figuring it out with each cry, building a new support system, setting new boundaries, adjustments to my marriage as we became parents, and so much more. All of which comes along as we adapt to the new identity of motherhood. I’m reminded that our children will constantly evolve and grow, as will we. As we are transitioning into each new season, we experience growing pains. As moms, may we approach each new season of transition with grace for ourselves, our families, and those around us.
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