Decisions lead to more decisions….

So, I’m sitting in my hotel room in Palm Springs. The girls are asleep, it’s still early – 7:50am to be exact. I’ve been up for over an hour now. I have scoured Facebook, and my email and even edited a session as I wait for the kids to wake up. I realize I haven’t written in a while and though I have nothing in particular to say, it’s either Blog, or try to go back to sleep which will screw me up for the rest of the day.

We have a full week ahead of us with competitions and I’m rather enjoying the quiet morning. I can’t believe it’s been a year since we have been here. I swear with each passing year, time is going faster and faster. Am I that busy that I can’t even absorb moments in time to make it slow down just a little?

For the past 4 years I have been promising myself that I was going to actually “REMOVE” stuff off my plate (so to speak) and have more down time. But as I sit here, I’m surprised I still have hair on my head for how much I have pulled out over the years.

This past year I found myself doing something I would never do……HOME SCHOOL…. I shake my head at this last year and the decisions I have made for myself and my children. But it’s really funny when you realize your motivation will cause you to do funny things!

This past year Aspen auditioned and got on 6 competitive dances…. SIX!! I was hoping for 4 max, but her efforts in dance really paid off. The first thing I did was negotiate her down to 4, but she countered with 5…. so we made the very difficult choice of which dance to cut. I suggested the one on Friday night so we could have just one day off!………….lo and behold, Avery’s team was on ….. you guessed it, FRIDAY!!! So, no days off for us! Furthermore, Aspen auditioned for a dance company and got on. It was a very triumphant year for my little determined dancer!!!

To that end, every time I said, “YES”, what I was really committing to was LESS time for ME!!!

After we got through the first set of auditions, we found out there was a piece they were going to be doing for YAGP (a very prestigious dance competition that only the most determined dancers compete at). This competitive piece was ONLY supposed to go through February…..but it kept going and there ya go, now Aspen is on SIX dances….. As the year went on, one of the girls realized she had to bow out of her team, and the coach offered the spot to Aspen (ironically it was the ONE DANCE we turned down). Aspen was SOOOOOO excited, she said, “OMG YESSSS!!!!” and called me hysterically happy! SOOOOO there you now have SEVEN dances. Not to mention the required productions for Nutcracker and Spring Ballet. The kid was dancing almost 30 hours a week at times…..

Home Schooling was an easy decision, because she needed more hours in her day to get everything done. But again, this required more time from ME, getting her to dance and to the school district to turn in her paperwork. I lost a LOT OF HOURS this year for the sake of my kid!

And as I sit here in Palm Springs, I can’t help but reflect back and wonder, what changes can I make this next year that will free up my times. And, as I ask myself this question, I have to ask, What exactly would I DO with my “free time”…….

And the truth is, I need to continue to build my business. I had to take a step back this last year and I can’t afford to go back any more.

There has to be a balance. There NEEDS to be a payoff in both directions. This year was truly amazing for Aspen, I can’t deny that! Her growth was off the charts! But going forward, I cannot have a repeat of this year, and I don’t think she wants that either! So next year we will go in with all eyes open and hopefully find some balance! My little girl is going into High School this year and things are going to get very busy!

I’m going to be writing down my goals for this upcoming year and I will have her do the same. Based on what we write, we will make better choices.

But in the meantime, as I have my feet kicked up on the bed and the kids are STILL sleeping… I’ll take this time to enjoy the peace and quiet……

Happy Sunday