Friday, January 06, 2006

Time Management

Ever feel like there's never enough time to get everything done in a day you want to get done? This week has been one of those.

And yet, even when I want to focus on more exciting things like interesting freelance projects or reading certain books or doing certain things like organizing my house (I'm a huge fan of decluttering) or even writing a new blog entry, there's always something else more pressing happening, like work deadlines or diabetes details.

Diabetes takes up a lot of time. Testing ten times a day. Adjusting the insulin. Figuring out the carb counts. Scheduling and going on doctor's visits. Managing high or low blood sugars. Changing out the pump and infusion set. And this is pre-pregnancy.

I wonder if I'll ever have any time to myself ever again once I'm pregnant and have a child to take care of. This is one of the reasons I've never felt the urge to have a child earlier than now--I was always more interested in doing my own thing than sacrificing my time for my child. And yet, I know that once a person becomes a parent, in my opinion, that person really has to sacrifice a lot of their own priorities and interests for the sake of raising the child with love and affection and good parenting skills.

I've never heard of anyone saying they really regretting having children once the children were born, but that having your own children is worth the hassle and expense and aggravation and details. I don't quite understand this yet, but I figure I will when I actually have a child or children of my own. I used to feel the same way about being married: how did you know that person was the right one for you, and how did it feel to give up the independence (that I, for one, loved) as a single person. For the most part, after being married for about a year now to a man I dated for a few years, I can say that while I see the benefits of being single and married, being married to Mr. Lyrehca makes sense and works for me. I hope I have the same revelation about being a parent as well someday.

I just hope I'll still have time to freelance and work and write and read as a parent. And oh yeah, maintain good diabetes control.

The decluttering may have to wait, though.

4 comments:

Kassie said...

You'll have time for all that matters. Your bathroom, however, may never be truly clean again.

I had an endo tell me that diabetes only takes 10 minutes a day to manage. He'd tested and prepared shots one day and counted the minutes. He so doesn't get diabetes.

Erica said...

It definitely takes awhile to find your groove again after having a baby. I had to let go of some things I'm generally uptight about in order to save my sanity... such as letting the dirty dishes linger in the sink for a day, or vacuuming only once a week etc...

I think it's so important to make some time for yourself once things calm down. I think it makes me a better mom and a better wife. My husband and I each have a night out. Tuesday nights after Hannah is in bed he goes to play poker for a couple hours with some friends and once a week I meet a friend at starbucks. Obviously we didn't start this tradition until Hannah was a little older without the demands of a newborn. I also make a point to find time to exercise because that really helps me feel good.

Parenthood is definitely a long strange trip...

Allison said...

Kassie: My father has told me that before. He says, Diabetes doesn't really take up that much time if you just do everything you're supposed to do. Although he may have raised me, and he may have "lived" with it while raising me and thinking for me, I'm not sure he realizes how much thought goes into it.

Though of course, sometimes I wonder if I overthink things.

Kerri. said...

I think I understand sort of where you're coming from. I find myself trying to thread 30 hours worth of day into that teeny 24 hour space. It just doesn't fit. But I keep trying to cram it all in.

I'm not sure if I've slept this week or not, but I'm definitely sleeping next week.

That's for damn sure.

And this is me without kids... oh dear.