Hurry Up, For What?

A friend and I were talking the other day about how any time we leave the house with the kids, we always feel rushed.  It occurs to me that I have been in a hurry for the better part of the last 5 years.  I know that part of it is just the amount of extra stuff there is to plan for/pack with little kids.

Case in point, today I took the kids to a nearby park and wading pool to play with friends.  This is what it entailed:

- Getting everyone dressed in swimsuits (after hunting for Oliver's swim shirt)
- Packing three towels, water bottles and snacks, change of clothes, diaper, wipes and sunscreen
- Finding the pool toys and swimming ring (the one without the hole)
- Loading up in the van
- Going down the street to Target to buy swim diapers (they were out of Emory's size of course) and another swimming ring so that both kids would have one, thus preventing a major meltdown
- Driving back home because Target had no swimming rings and grabbing the one with the hole in hopes that it wouldn't deflate too quickly
- Meeting friends at the pool
- Putting on swim diaper and applying sunscreen
- And finally, swimming

All this for a casual playdate. As usual, this endeavor left me feeling rushed and frazzled, and for what?  If we had been late our friends would have understood, and Emory didn't even want to use his swimming ring, so why did I waste time on that?

The bottom line is, yes, outings with little kids take planning, and I can't avoid this (though there are no doubt ways I need to simplify the process).  But, I think I need to remember that any sense of anxiety I feel about being late is completely self-imposed.

I recently read somewhere that many women today are obsessed with being busy.  Somehow we have tied up our self-worth in how much we can get done and how many things we can do at once.  I wonder what impact this will have on our kids?

Something to think about...