Wisdom on Moms Emerges from 'The Affair' Series
By Sandy Schroeder
If you, like many of us, have been following "The Affair" cable television series, you may be a little tired of the whole thing and ready to bid them all goodbye, or actually following the details as it slowly wraps up.
I have mixed thoughts about the series, but I really liked an interesting burst of wisdom that came for Helen (Maura Tierney) from her new love interest Sasha (Claes Bang). Throughout the series, Helen has been the mom taking care of everyone around her
As Sasha watches Helen struggle to juggle all of the needs of her family, doing everything that she can, he says, "You don't have to light yourself on fire to warm the world around you."
Moms Are Always on Duty
I thought about that advice and realized many of us moms do this more than we should. We shoulder all sorts of problems and demands for those in our world, often collapsing at the end of the day. Perhaps sometimes moms overdo it. You think?
I know I do. It is almost a reflexive way of living, reaching out to make sure everyone is comfortable and well. That's fine, but if it is taking every bit of your energy, you might consider delegating some of the tasks and teaching others to learn to do more for themselves.
I am resolving to step back to take a moment to consider new options and develop better boundaries.
See if these things sound familiar, or make your own list of things that you do for everyone. Depending on the ages of children, and the number of inhabitants in the family, some of these tasks may be inevitable, but often they persist longer than they should as mom follows through to make everything happen again and again.
How Moms Help Out
- Reminding teens to finish homework and keep daily schedules
- Getting pre-teens and teens up and going in the morning
- Picking up after kids, scooping laundry from the floor
- Fixing endless snacks for everyone or whipping up full-blown meals after working all day
- Using weekends to do everyone's laundry
- Using weekends to trim the bushes, clean out the garage, or maintain plants
- Staying up at night to pay the bills, or finish other routine household tasks
- Running the pets to the vet or the groomer
- Driving everybody everywhere
In a very busy society in which families do lose touch with each other, some of these tasks actually do quite a bit to help kids and spouses know that they have a solid base with someone who cares very much. The trick is to impart all of that security and warmth without doing all of the heavy lifting. Good luck.
To learn more about your health, wellness and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Spring, Tex.