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How to Stay Calm in the Midst of Chaos

Picture of Hi! I'm Annika Tell

Hi! I'm Annika Tell

Who would have thought raising kids is actually a course in leadership and sales?

Read my story

Since couple of last weeks one or the other of our boys has been a little sick they haven’t been able to go to the kindergarten. One big upside to all of this is that I have been able to spend a lot more quality time with our children.

This is how our quality time was spent yesterday morning. They weren’t content with anything whatsoever from the moment they opened their little eyes. Mom was obviously way too slow with cooking the porridge, then the porridge didn’t cool down fast enough, and to top it all off it was served in the wrong colored bowl, with the wrong spoon and with completely wrong toppings. 

However, they took pity on me and decided to eat it anyway at least until they weren’t all that hungry anymore but as a sign of protest, they decided that the rest of the porridge deserves to end up on the carpet.

Then they turned their attention to their toys. Naturally, having only one room full of toys is not nearly enough and what is this nonsense of having only ONE of each toy??? Is this prison? Therefore, the rest of the morning was spent fighting over every single toy because they each needed to play with the same toy at all times. There was a silver lining to this though – they cried one at a time because while one was crying, the other one was playing with the desired toy.

Okay, time to find a more calm activity if I want to make it through the day with all my hair still on my head. The boys sat down to color by the kitchen table. Luckily, there were plenty of coloring pencils so they wouldn’t have to fight over the same colors but if you think that I had finally cracked the code and they were coloring like little angels while mommy could enjoy a nice cup of tea then ooh boy are you wrong. 

No no, they both wanted to color the same picture so ring the bell for round nr. 3. In the heat of the battle, they knocked over the vase so all the pictures, pencils, the table, the floor, and their clothes were drenched in water. Over to the bathtub we go. After fighting over the toys in the bath they finally found an activity that pleased them both. In friendly unison, they used their little cups to transport all the bathwater onto the bathroom floor. Aah, the power of teamwork. Don’t get me wrong, we have amazing children but at the end of the day, they are just that – children.

When my husband emerged from his office during lunchtime I told him that if I am to keep any inch of my sanity intact in this house I need to be able to do my morning routines. “Why didn’t you do them in the morning then?” he asked. “I didn’t have time,” I replied. “I had to work on my blog and the only time I can do that is when the kids are asleep. During the day I have to focus on other stuff.” 

“Well nobody is telling you to do the blog” he said and you know what, he was completely right. Nobody told me to write the blog. Nobody told me to have kids. Those were all my own choices. Our entire lives are made up of our own choices.

It was time to remind myself of the old truth:

If you don’t like something then change it. If you can’t change it then change your attitude. Don’t complain.

Think for a moment:

  • What are areas in your life you are not currently happy with?
  • What could you do to change those things?
  • If you cannot change the conditions, how could you change your attitude towards them?


This leads us to my choices today’s morning. I got up an hour earlier, did some yoga, and spent some time meditating. I read a bit and wrote down all the things I am thankful for. I practiced self-talk and visualized how my day was going to go. At the moment, the sun is shining, I’m writing my blog and I feel ready to tackle any challenges that may come my way today knowing that all of this is my own choice. I feel like it is going to be a wonderful day! 

You know the best time to act is now, right?

So, while you already have this post opened, take a couple of minutes to think about the following questions, answer them and have them sent to your email so you can go over them any time you want.

Your writing will not be saved anywhere and is only for you to use.

Think for a moment:

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