WEBVTT 00:00:01.029 --> 00:00:03.890 Last week on the podcast I talked all about how 00:00:03.890 --> 00:00:06.929 do I juggle all the things? Oftentimes when I 00:00:06.929 --> 00:00:09.289 meet somebody new they ask me, oh my gosh, how 00:00:09.289 --> 00:00:11.769 do you do all of that? You have six kids and 00:00:11.769 --> 00:00:14.210 you homeschool and you run a business. How in 00:00:14.210 --> 00:00:16.210 the world do you do that? Those of you that know 00:00:16.210 --> 00:00:18.109 me personally also know that my husband works 00:00:18.109 --> 00:00:21.309 a lot and travels. So it is a little bit of a 00:00:21.309 --> 00:00:23.670 juggle and I just wanted to speak into that because 00:00:23.670 --> 00:00:25.730 I think sometimes when we don't know all the 00:00:25.730 --> 00:00:27.910 facts then we can make ourselves feel really 00:00:27.910 --> 00:00:31.070 bad about the amount that we are. able to accomplish 00:00:31.070 --> 00:00:34.590 in a day compared to somebody else. Alright, 00:00:34.710 --> 00:00:36.909 so let's really dive into this. Last time I talked 00:00:36.909 --> 00:00:39.950 more about the emotional weight that we carry 00:00:39.950 --> 00:00:42.009 when we find out that somebody is doing so much 00:00:42.009 --> 00:00:44.329 and we kind of compare what's on our plate to 00:00:44.329 --> 00:00:46.469 what's on their plate. This week I want to talk 00:00:46.469 --> 00:00:50.009 more about the concrete. How do we actually juggle 00:00:50.009 --> 00:00:54.880 the things? Welcome to Health and Hormones. I 00:00:54.880 --> 00:00:57.060 am your host, Rita Johnson. Here we talk about 00:00:57.060 --> 00:00:59.340 all things related to health, hormones, natural 00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:01.740 living, and those amazing bodies that God has 00:01:01.740 --> 00:01:03.899 given you and how to take care of them better. 00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:07.950 I'm so glad you're here. So today let's dive 00:01:07.950 --> 00:01:10.189 into some of those concrete things. So first 00:01:10.189 --> 00:01:12.469 of all I want to say just like I said in the 00:01:12.469 --> 00:01:15.150 last podcast episode is that how do I juggle 00:01:15.150 --> 00:01:18.489 all the things? I don't. I really have become 00:01:18.489 --> 00:01:21.209 very good at delegating and asking other people 00:01:21.209 --> 00:01:23.569 to do other things and it's always been a policy 00:01:23.569 --> 00:01:25.870 my husband and I have had that we really ask 00:01:25.870 --> 00:01:28.349 our kids to help out a lot around the house and 00:01:28.349 --> 00:01:31.390 I find that it's really good for them. Not only 00:01:31.390 --> 00:01:34.250 for their abilities to see that mom and dad do 00:01:34.250 --> 00:01:36.829 a lot but also to understand that that the mess 00:01:36.829 --> 00:01:38.989 I make doesn't just get cleaned up. I'll never 00:01:38.989 --> 00:01:40.569 forget one of the first times I saw one of my 00:01:40.569 --> 00:01:43.310 kids take a wrapper off of something they were 00:01:43.310 --> 00:01:45.349 eating and crumble it up and throw it on the 00:01:45.349 --> 00:01:48.010 ground. Right? They could take it to the garbage. 00:01:48.489 --> 00:01:50.329 I could pick it up and take it to the garbage. 00:01:50.670 --> 00:01:54.390 Or I could say, excuse me, who is going to clean 00:01:54.390 --> 00:01:58.370 that up? When we stop and ask them these questions, 00:01:58.650 --> 00:02:01.069 sometimes it gets their little brains rolling 00:02:01.069 --> 00:02:04.349 and thinking, hmm, you're right. I can't just 00:02:04.349 --> 00:02:06.189 make a mess everywhere, because then we have 00:02:06.189 --> 00:02:08.250 a mess everywhere, especially when there's lots 00:02:08.250 --> 00:02:10.849 of people in tow. So let's talk a little bit 00:02:10.849 --> 00:02:13.229 more through the nitty gritty of this. I definitely 00:02:13.229 --> 00:02:15.129 was somebody that used to look at other people 00:02:15.129 --> 00:02:17.909 and be like, oh my gosh, I cannot even understand 00:02:17.909 --> 00:02:20.490 how they do half of what they do when I'm struggling 00:02:20.490 --> 00:02:22.449 over here. So the first thing I want to say is 00:02:22.449 --> 00:02:28.330 that my kids are 16, 14, 11, eight, four, and 00:02:28.330 --> 00:02:31.930 four months old. And so this broad range of ages 00:02:31.930 --> 00:02:35.090 naturally has its challenges, right? I have teenagers 00:02:35.090 --> 00:02:38.110 and very little people, but it also has great 00:02:38.110 --> 00:02:41.870 benefit. Basically, we have a dish schedule during 00:02:41.870 --> 00:02:44.750 the week where I never unload the dishwasher 00:02:44.750 --> 00:02:48.090 or wash dishes unless I want to. And that's really 00:02:48.090 --> 00:02:50.469 about it. If somebody's sick, I might jump in 00:02:50.469 --> 00:02:53.669 and do some dishes, which I never mind. I kind 00:02:53.669 --> 00:02:55.270 of it's kind of therapeutic for me to do the 00:02:55.270 --> 00:02:57.729 dishes when I don't have to do them every single 00:02:57.729 --> 00:02:59.830 night, especially this season of a little baby. 00:02:59.830 --> 00:03:01.469 And I can just ask somebody to hold the baby 00:03:01.469 --> 00:03:03.909 while I clean the kitchen. It is glorious. And 00:03:03.909 --> 00:03:06.009 it's so nice to be able to be back at this place. 00:03:06.229 --> 00:03:09.800 That is not where I was even. eight, nine, ten 00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:12.419 years ago. I felt very overwhelmed and we were 00:03:12.419 --> 00:03:15.280 cooking a lot from scratch in our kitchen and 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:18.520 that meant even more dishes. Another thing that 00:03:18.520 --> 00:03:20.780 I am really intentional about is cooking. We 00:03:20.780 --> 00:03:25.340 do eat from home. I would say 99 % of our meals 00:03:25.340 --> 00:03:27.919 are eaten out of our own kitchen, whether we're 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:30.340 traveling or whether we're, you know, out and 00:03:30.340 --> 00:03:33.520 about. We always pack snacks. When we go to hotels, 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:36.340 I try to bring food that I can make in the Instant 00:03:36.340 --> 00:03:38.919 Pot. I try to keep it really simple. And part 00:03:38.919 --> 00:03:41.620 of the reason is because we have so many foods 00:03:41.620 --> 00:03:44.500 that we have to avoid collectively as a family 00:03:44.500 --> 00:03:46.379 that it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense 00:03:46.379 --> 00:03:48.719 for us to go out and purchase meals anywhere. 00:03:48.900 --> 00:03:52.060 And so we pack, cook, and prepare a lot of the 00:03:52.060 --> 00:03:53.830 food. food that we are eating for that reason, 00:03:53.909 --> 00:03:56.270 so it still tastes really good. But our meals 00:03:56.270 --> 00:03:59.629 are simple. It's a lot of crock pot or roasted 00:03:59.629 --> 00:04:02.409 pan dinners or husband grills and I make a salad. 00:04:02.770 --> 00:04:05.310 We don't tend to do a whole lot of fancy meals 00:04:05.310 --> 00:04:08.430 unless it's a special occasion or it's a Sunday 00:04:08.430 --> 00:04:11.729 afternoon and we have a little extra time. My 00:04:11.729 --> 00:04:14.069 kids take turns cooking, my husband takes turn 00:04:14.069 --> 00:04:16.470 cooking, and so it really works out that I may 00:04:16.470 --> 00:04:19.839 be cooking dinner. four till five nights a week. 00:04:20.060 --> 00:04:22.420 And we always try to cook for leftovers as well. 00:04:23.100 --> 00:04:25.160 Now, another thing that overwhelms some people 00:04:25.160 --> 00:04:28.279 is that we homeschool. Homeschooling truly at 00:04:28.279 --> 00:04:31.180 this season feels like the frog in the boiling 00:04:31.180 --> 00:04:33.920 water. I am definitely the frog. The water is 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:37.240 boiling, but we're good. I'm happy here. And 00:04:37.240 --> 00:04:39.839 part of that is because my kids, especially my 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:43.040 high schoolers, have online classes that is the 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:46.480 bulk of their curriculum. We do carpools for 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:49.079 a lot of the in -person things and that oftentimes 00:04:49.079 --> 00:04:52.060 works out to taking a load off of me because 00:04:52.060 --> 00:04:53.660 I'm not having to leave the house. Maybe I'm 00:04:53.660 --> 00:04:56.360 home with the little people and swapping a friend's 00:04:56.360 --> 00:04:58.699 little people or when I'm in a season where I 00:04:58.699 --> 00:05:01.779 don't have a four -month -old baby, I am very 00:05:01.779 --> 00:05:04.000 often the one that's like, hey, I'll drive, everyone 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:06.540 else stay home and then I'll go work at a coffee 00:05:06.540 --> 00:05:08.720 shop for a couple hours so I can get some dedicated 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:11.920 work time in. Here again, the kids help each 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:15.259 other. So I might have my... 11 year old read 00:05:15.259 --> 00:05:16.980 a book to the four -year -old as part of her 00:05:16.980 --> 00:05:20.199 reading for that day that kind of thing. Hired 00:05:20.199 --> 00:05:22.259 help is definitely something we are not strangers 00:05:22.259 --> 00:05:25.480 to or adverse to at all. We will do things like 00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:28.939 hiring a house cleaner. We will also ask babysitters 00:05:28.939 --> 00:05:31.000 for help if and when we're in a season that's 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:34.000 just really taxing. Hey friend are you struggling 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:36.180 with trying to figure out how to support your 00:05:36.180 --> 00:05:37.920 hormones naturally, you're sick of all these 00:05:37.920 --> 00:05:39.439 other solutions that you're hearing about that 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:42.699 are artificial or outside of your control, then 00:05:42.699 --> 00:05:45.420 grab my free ebook. It's all about how to balance 00:05:45.420 --> 00:05:47.699 your hormones naturally. The link is in the description 00:05:47.699 --> 00:05:50.019 to this podcast episode. There's so much we can 00:05:50.019 --> 00:05:52.199 do to take our health back into our own hands 00:05:52.199 --> 00:05:54.959 and feel better. So let's get started today. 00:05:55.759 --> 00:05:58.300 Then there's also the business stuff too. Here 00:05:58.300 --> 00:06:01.639 again, I really try to employ my kids to help 00:06:01.639 --> 00:06:03.660 in this process. You know, they definitely have 00:06:03.660 --> 00:06:06.399 talents that I do not. My oldest in particular 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:09.920 is really good at being behind a camera and seeing 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:12.259 things visually and dealing with the tech in 00:06:12.259 --> 00:06:15.160 the background. And so for example, sometimes 00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:17.699 trying to do a little project, like picking out 00:06:17.699 --> 00:06:20.600 a new program that I'm going to edit videos in, 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:23.319 overwhelms me and can derail my work for a whole 00:06:23.319 --> 00:06:25.759 afternoon. Whereas I can ask my six - 16 year 00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:28.180 old, hey bud, can you help me research this and 00:06:28.180 --> 00:06:30.139 tell me what would be a really great option for 00:06:30.139 --> 00:06:33.019 me? And then he shows me how to use it, which 00:06:33.019 --> 00:06:37.100 is so my love language. So it really does feel 00:06:37.100 --> 00:06:40.160 a lot lighter and a lot easier to do those different 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:42.939 things. And, you know, I would just say, I think 00:06:42.939 --> 00:06:45.660 often that when we look towards how other people 00:06:45.660 --> 00:06:47.939 are doing things, we just think, gosh, there's 00:06:47.939 --> 00:06:50.639 no way I could ever do all of that. And I want 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:53.519 to say that, you know, These things are callings, 00:06:53.620 --> 00:06:55.980 having a big family, homeschooling, running a 00:06:55.980 --> 00:06:58.560 business while kids are at home. These things 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:02.100 are a calling that you may be called to in your 00:07:02.100 --> 00:07:04.939 life by the Lord, or He may be telling you to 00:07:04.939 --> 00:07:07.000 wait, to wait a little longer through a difficult 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:09.740 season. But if He's calling you to it, you will 00:07:09.740 --> 00:07:13.259 also have the grace to be able to carry all of 00:07:13.259 --> 00:07:15.339 those things at once. And that's the biggest 00:07:15.339 --> 00:07:17.899 thing I really want to leave you with. It's just 00:07:17.899 --> 00:07:19.660 prayerfully discerning what the Lord's calling 00:07:19.660 --> 00:07:22.800 you to do and if this is the time to do it or 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:25.500 not. I hope this helps you friend. I really want 00:07:25.500 --> 00:07:29.899 to re -instill in all of us the beauty of collaboration 00:07:29.899 --> 00:07:33.240 instead of competition. And that is, you know... 00:07:33.129 --> 00:07:36.949 So many multi, so many faceted approaches, right? 00:07:37.069 --> 00:07:39.009 We just really need to kind of pause and say, 00:07:39.290 --> 00:07:42.189 how can I be a more present, better friend instead 00:07:42.189 --> 00:07:45.449 of comparing and being jealous and struggling 00:07:45.449 --> 00:07:47.589 with my own day -to -day and feeling like I have 00:07:47.589 --> 00:07:51.149 to suffer silently because I can't do all of 00:07:51.149 --> 00:07:51.370 that.