I have a confession to make, I am a Pack-rat. Yes, that’s me over there in the corner that just dashed under the wall of stuffed animals. But out of all honesty I came out today to ask you for advice.

First, I have four children, the ages range from going on 12 to turning 2 today. For the most part I’m an Okay mom, no I’m not perfect. Even though I’d love to be that Beverly Cleaver mom, I already know I’m not her. I’m also a sentimental mom, every piece of clothing and toy has a speacial memory that goes along with it. Yes, even that little onesie that Aunt J got for SoccerBoy before he was born. You know the one that was a baseball uniform. No, he can’t wear it anymore but I still have it. I also have the tattered stuffed bunny that has a rattle in his tail that Aunt S. got him. I just never could part with such items.

With each child they were played with, but we also added more toys to the collection. Not all of them were played with as much, some still look brand new. My kids have never been rough with their toys so when one does get broke I’ve always tossed it. I always thought I was doing “Spring Cleaning” and taking out items that weren’t needed. You know illiminating my pack-rat status.

But it seems I haven’t. I do have a downstairs playroom, however the light has been out and it is a REALLY high ceiling. Basically this means we don’t go down there unless it is sunny out, during the winter it became a room of passing through to do the laundry. However, I suspect with the warmth coming we’ll be down there more. This will be a whole new land for them, kind of like a toyland or Christmas Time. Old toys, will now be new.

Okay the question is….What is a pack-rat to do with all these toys?   I can’t seem to just toss them all. I no longer think I’m being thrifty by passing them down, just prolonging the inevitable that my little ones are growing up. But I do know that they will be played with. Solutions?

IMG: The Life of a Home Mom

It seems a lot of folks offer links to other posts on the weekend, but hey, I’ve never done anything the way I’m supposed to anyways so I’m doing it mid-week.  There are so many inspiring posts here at b5, especially in the lifestyles channel. 

First and foremost is this wonderful post from Gayla at MomGadget.  If you’ve ever found yourself in the midst of a crisis, or you simply wanted to hear about how someone sold their blog for over $90,000 - you’ve got to read this post!  It’s uplifting on so many levels.  I immediately called my husband over when I first read it!  Do try and check it out.

I love reading A Child Chosen.  As someone who is adopted and also wants to adopt, I find it has a ton of great info no matter where you are in your adoption journey.  This post, Five Steps to Choose an Adoption Agency, is sure to help anyone looking to adopt.

Take a look at Marye’s kitchen over at Baking Delights.  You could also enter to win a kitchen makeover.

November is comfort food month over at Busy Family Meal Planning, and while I love that blog anyways, I love the idea of comfort food even more!  (Stressful times call for stress-busting tactics.  Comfort food being one.  Want to sample some Ultra Creamy Macaroni and Cheese, anyone?)

At Cooking Gadgets (another favorite blog of mine) there is the cutest Pirate Shaped Cake Pan you ever did see!

Those of us who have been single for a long time can sympathize with Lara’s Solo Pity Party over at Dating Dames.

Jennifer at DeClutter It has the most hiliarious gift for the organized gals among us!

Last but not least, you can weigh in on what type of dog Barack Obama should get for his daughters!  (Hint, he’s got some criteria about allergies and such, and I’m sure we all have our favorite choices to offer him.  Schnoodle, anyone?)

I’m sure many of you can relate to this:  some days you just feel like your life is on permanent fast forward.  Everything goes too darn fast.  And yet, there’s still no time.  No time for hobbies, for love, for real relationships… Certainly no time just to sit and do nothing (without feeling guilty!)

This kind of hurried life can cause plenty of problems, too.  For me, it added to health issues.  I had to slow down because my body just couldn’t keep up.  For others, it may mean you don’t have the same quality relationship with your spouse, or even that your kids are as stressed as you are.

I caught this interesting article that talked about the effects of a life zipping by too fast, and one of the things it mentioned was Hurried Woman’s Syndrome.  It said:

“Women who try to do too many things at once—juggling work with hectic home life—complain of chronic stress, tiredness, weight gain, sleep problems, guilt, knackered self-esteem.

They suffer, according to Dr. Brent Bost, from hurried woman syndrome.”

The remedy for this is simply slowing down.  But it’s easier said than done.  It takes a concentrated effort.  But once you master it, you won’t want to go back.

I had to adjust my life at first because of health reasons.  But now, I protect my time and that of my family.  I don’t over schedule.  In some cases, that’s meant we don’t socialize as much as we used to.  We had some friends that we saw once in a while that constantly caused us stress.  But we worked to fit them into our social calendar.  Now, we don’t.  (And haven’t missed them.)

Instead, we focus on those rare friendships that are special.  We spend quality time with people that care about us.  We work to make our holidays less hectic.  We even use caution when it comes to getting into new TV shows or hobbies.    We also purposely don’t schedule activities as often as we did before.  We choose plays or flea markets (or whatever we truly love) over those things that would have us stuck in traffic and feeling rushed.  We rarely schedule anything for during the week.

Basically, we guard our schedule as if it’s the most precious thing around.  It’s not something I’ve always done.  But now that I have this mindset, I really see the difference in how much calmer I am.

What about you?  Are you suffering from “Hurried Woman’s (or Men’s) Syndrome”?  If so, what steps can you take to slow down?

Image from Morguefile.