I’ve been reflecting on why I felt hurt on New Year’s Eve and it’s taken me three weeks to process.
My family got together for the holidays. Mom agreed to stay with my son on NYE so that my husband and I could celebrate with my bothers and the rest of the family. The general routine with my son is that he eats dinner, has a bath, and is in bed by 7:30pm. This routine had been honoured for the two weeks we’d been away by the family; they often showed up in our room to play cards or go for a walk after Eli was asleep.
Fast forward to NYE. Many adults in our family fast intermittently. Knowing that we were going to celebrate, we hadn’t eaten during the day. In the afternoon, I went to my brothers’ rooms to check in. We agreed that we would get dinner once Eli was down so my mom could relax and not have to convince an active young boy to go to bed.
At 7pm I got a message asking if we were ready to head out followed quickly by another message suggesting we meet at the elevator in 5 minutes. I had a soaking wet child in my arms who I was frantically trying to get into pyjamas. I asked if we could meet in 10 minutes instead. The response was that they couldn’t wait; they were going ahead. They’d meet us there. I actually cried. My family had taken off without us even though they knew my timing.
To people without little kids, or those whose kids have grown into independent teens, 5 minutes doesn’t seem like much. But to parents of very young people, where a scheduling difference of 5-10 minutes can mean the difference between success and meltdown, timing is everything.
I realize that my family wasn’t doing this “to” me, and in many ways, might have thought that having a child that goes to bed at 7:30pm when we’re all hungry is me doing something “to” them. And what I realized, after some reflection, is that stress creates time-emphasis. Stress requires time to resolve the stressful thing: being hungry, or putting a child to bed, or, for instance, being an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurs and parents are, in the matter of stress and time — one and the same. Entrepreneurs need every five minute slot of the day, as do parents. This is not new to me. In fact, it’s why I chose to be a Nu Skin entrepreneur — the products deliver above my expectations in surprisingly little time: twice a week for 5 minutes I remove wrinkles in the deep layers of skin where they are formed and for 2 minutes everyday I cleanse/treat my face with an energizing massage device that has results that intensify over time. These two simple time-saving devices have helped me take care of me, while I take care of everything else.
We ended up having a great time on NYE even though we were all asleep before midnight.
How long does your skincare routine take you to complete? Is it helping your skin look more youthful and vibrant? If it’s taking too long or not giving you the results you expect, leave a comment or reach out to me privately, I’d love to share my time-saving tips.