If you’re like me, you are more than one person. Or at least it feels that way. The amount I get done in a day and still make brownies at the end of it even surprises me at times. I have several huge projects in the air constantly: new carpet for the loft and the stairs (which includes moving shelves with books, measuring the area—of course the carpet guy can do that, but it’s faster if I go to carpet store with measurements of the room, right?)—painting the guest bath because, dang it, I tried to match the paint to the original (that was discontinued) and just won’t match, no matter how many trips I make to Home Depot to try again.
And wait, in the middle of it all I find myself feeding vacationing friends’ cats, or dog, watching another friend’s child for 2 days in a row. What is up with this? Is it because I can get it done that they ask? Is it that everyone else said no? Do I have a welcome mat plastered on my face? I guess I have to say “Yes” to that. “No” does not come naturally to me.
Okay, note to self: “No” is a powerful word. People respect you when you say No because you’ve set a limit and now they know how far they can go. Without the “No” they don’t know when to stop and they just keep going and taking.
So stop them. Just say No. Don’t get up earlier to feed and walk the dog. Sleep in…
You can, you know.
—SBM
Single Busy Mommy 