FOR MOEBIUS MOMS AND DADS: STRESS-BUSTING TIPS

These are tips from a very busy wife, mother, and career woman--Cathy Reese, who created these tips, is the coach of the University of Maryland's lacrosse team.  And she has several children, and a husband.  How does she do it all?  And how can you parents of children with Moebius do it all?  You are very busy too.  Here are some ideas:

******************************

Tips from Team Reese’s playbook
→ Get kid time where you can.It would be easier to make the trip to Wegmans for groceries by herself, but Reese often takes her children with her. She says it’s worth the stress of having all four children with her in the store to have some time together, even if they are begging for Jolly Rancher popsicles or tossing gum into the cart when mom isn’t looking.

“If that’s the time I get to spend with them, that’s what we do,” Reese says. “As much as it may make my hair turn gray or fall out, it’s still time with them.”

→ Outsource or delegate what you don’t like. Reese admits she is terrible at cleaning house, so she has a maid service take care of chores such as bathrooms and floors.
“That’s been the best money ever spent, because at least I know the toilets get cleaned,” Reese said. “It doesn’t last very long. Someone cleans your house and in two hours it doesn’t even look like they were there, but at least the counters are wiped down, the bathrooms have been cleaned, the sinks have been cleaned. It just makes me feel better.”
→ → → Share duties with your spouse. Cathy and Brian Reese split the cooking, homework help and chauffeur duties. Who does what largely depends on who is home when, she says. Cathy does most of the grocery shopping, and Brian usually handles the laundry.
Reese says he delivers a fresh pile of folded laundry to her side of the bed, the idea being that she has to put it away before climbing in to go to sleep. More often than not, she says, she moves the pile to the floor instead.
→ Surround yourself with good people. Reese has a supportive husband and family around to help. She is also able to lean on her staff at the University of Maryland. When son Riley was sick last winter, Reese never missed a game or practice, but assistant coaches Lauri Kenis and Caitlyn McFadden handled a lot of the day-to-day running of the program while she visited him in the hospital.
“I was out for a month and had people covering for me in all areas,” Reese says. “If you are surrounded with good people, anything is possible.”

**********************************

"Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do.  Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors.  Try to be better than yourself."--William Faulkner