Stop Stressing About the Gatorade

Early morning bird twitter roused me from a deep sleep.  (It's actually my alarm. Thanks to daylight savings time, I now get up in the dark...before the real birds.) Slowly I rolled over, pulling the blankets around me and snuggling up for one more 10 minute snooze when, BAM! It hit me. Once again, I forgot to put more bottles of Gatorade in the fridge for the girls' lunches. 

My next thought was, "I need to get up and put them in the freezer so they will get cold before the girls pack their lunches.". Ugh! I silently berated myself for being so lazy last night and forgetting to take care of this chore once again. Already tension pulsed through my shoulders, and I hadn't even stepped out of bed and tripped over the cat yet. 

But then, some divine intervention took control of my self- depricating thoughts and my nerves calmed immediately."Wait a minute. The girls are almost 12 years old. You've reminded them countless times that they need to restock the fridge when they take out the last drink. They know exactly where the Gatorade is stored, and they know they will need a drink for their lunches today. LET IT GO! Obviously they don't care too much about having a cold drink, or they would remember to put new drinks in the fridge themselves. If they don't mind, why should you let yourself get so stressed over it?"

As a working mom, sometimes I get carried away trying to make sure everyone's ducks are in a row. It's one part survival instinct and one part guilt for not being able to do as much as I wish I could. My head knows it's important that they take ownership and learn responsibility. But sometimes my heart hurts when I think about all they already have to do on their own. One thing's for certain, I'm going to stop beating myself up over the Gatorade and focus on things that really matter.