I am nesting…

I took a - three day - weekend off from my business and decided that I need time to “rest”.

That same night I had this urge to go through all my kids wardrobe and “make space” for their school clothes by donating whatever is not being used or they outgrew.

I haven’t done my laundry 🧺 in three days and Friday night I went through folding three loads and putting them away - wow!

Then I woke up Saturday and did so much deep cleaning 🧹 in the girls rooms - got rid of anything extra and did some massive decluttering that I haven’t done in years.

I thought that I was done but apparently not. 😳

I then cleaned up my basement - which was flooded with toys 🧸 - and set up a study corner for my three girls with three cute adjacent desks and their supplies!

What I was able to do in 24 hours I haven’t done in 3 years! #truth

NO KIDDING.

Three years and I have HAD enough energy to take care of my kids, my business, sometimes myself but my house was pretty much getting the essentials.

I had to PAUSE.

And think…

Wait

Why now??

Am I too excited that I will be back to teaching for a year after a three year Hiatus! 🫣

Ok - I get that I loved teaching but I have been doing it for three years so I doubt that it is the excitement.

I had to be real - and dive deeper than the surface . .. …

I had to sit with myself and think.

Why now?

Why do we start organizing and decluttering all of a sudden - and then I remembered the last time this massive energy wave came to me.

It was when two weeks before I had Julia, my first born.🤰

I realized: I am nesting. 😬

I am nesting even-though I know I am not pregnant.

But why now?

I had to revisit the Biologist inside me and remember: why do we nest?

We nest for multiple reasons:

1- In anticipation of a big event or change of routine, therefore it is a survival mechanism so no matter how big of a shift the change is, there is enough order in our environment that we can still feel grounded.

2- to take control: again in anticipation of the unknown.

And this one was weird to me…

I know exactly what to expect the first day of teaching, the first week, semester, when things get rough, and when they ease down…

So what unknown?

It is the first time that I teach with three kids not one, two of which are twins, going to school for the first time and an established business.

Think of it this way: once August hits, your body as a parent or student drives you to the nearest store to get school supplies, add to that that you have three kids, then add as well that you teach 100 plus kids (more supplies), and you are trying to stay healthy mentally and physically, plus you got clients and a business you worked so hard on. You either go: anxiety- full force, you act in denial and panic right before or you do what most teachers do as they approach August: Nest!

3- we also nest after exiting a highly stressful event or series of events to allow any stress to dissipate from our body through movement.

One of the biggest blessings that I was able to anchor to through my last three years of turbulence, self discovery, and massive character growth was that I learned to listen to my body and observe it with love.

How about you? Do you relate?

Have you been nesting lately or in hibernation mode ☺️? And how do you know?