The Stressless Wonder

Would be me. I know, I know, me, no stress? I'd just like to take this moment to publicly announce that I got through a weekend of company and a whole child's birthday party* yesterday without stressing myself out. So cool.

This comes on the heels of making a conscious decision that this one time, for this one event (the boy's first birthday party), I would try to catch myself and not worry about a thing. An experiment of sorts. Here's the rundown:

Guests showing up earlier than I had planned the day before -- "I will not stress."

Needing to still do a lot of shopping the same day -- "I will not stress."

Hubby works all afternoon/evening leaving me to care for the kids, party preparations, and guests by myself -- "I will not stress."

Staying up baking and decorating cakes 'til the wee hours -- "I will not stress."

Leaving the baking/decorating giant mess to go on for the whole day -- "I will not stress."

Letting all creation into my home in the state of aforementioned mess -- "I will not stress."

Forgetting to put up most of the decorations -- "I will not stress."

Forgetting the candle for the birthday boy's (one and only first birthday) cupcake -- "I will not stress."

Having to clean everything up the next day -- "I will not stress."


And I didn't. And the oddest thing happened. Everything that would have been left undone in my usual stressed-out state was still left undone, and everything that would have been accomplished in my usual stressed-out state was still accomplished. And I tell you, I enjoyed myself immensely more than I usually do. But the kicker is that I feel so further ahead of the game today than I think I would usually feel.

This cognitive and behavioral therapy experiment just might have worked.


*Pictures forthcoming.