I like to keep busy and hate being bored. But, you hit a certain point where you’re overwhelmed by how over scheduled you are and you crave some downtime that is scheduled with absolutely nothing. The month of May has already been and will continue to be one of my most hectic months of the year.

TRAVEL
This past weekend was a lot of fun, but it is one of those that leaves you exhausted for the week. We drove down to Huntington Beach to visit my in-laws. My sister-in-law and soon to be brother-in-law were also out visiting from Minnesota. It’s always so fun to hang out with family, but it is the drive that is exhausting. Keeping a nearly one year old entertained for 5+ hours is a challenge. I gave in and let him watch movies on the iPad there and back. That is the only way we (yes, both he and I) were ever going to get through it. At one point on the drive back, he started shaking his head, hitting his hands to his head, and was pulling his hair. I could only commiserate with him as I too had reached the point of delirium and wanting to pull out my own hair.

This isn’t our only trip this month.  It is the first of three.  Memorial Day Weekend we head up to Oregon (another road trip) to gather with family and scatter my grandfather’s ashes.  Then just a couple days after we return from that trip, we fly to Hawaii.  I have a feeling this trip will be VERY different from the last time we took the kiddo.  Flying with a 1 year old who wants to walk ALL THE TIME and has to sit on our laps for 5 hours is going to be interesting.  I’m sure the iPad will be making an appearance then too.

EVENTS
I’m probably the only insane person in the world who decides – I know…I’ll throw my kid a first birthday party the day after a 6 figure fundraising gala that I’ve been working on since coming back from maternity leave.  Sure, a month and a half ago it sounded like a great idea and totally feasible.  As it gets closer though, I can’t help but wonder, “What the heck was I thinking???”

FAMILY
The only upside to all the craziness is that we are going to get a lot of family time.  Last weekend was spent with my husband’s family.  This weekend is spent with our little family (my first mother’s day!).  Next weekend is spent with my parents, in-laws, aunts, and uncles to celebrate Nolan’s birthday.  The following weekend we will be with 15+ family members as we remember my grandpa.  And the weekend after that (technically that’s June, but it’s the first day of June) we will be in Hawaii celebrating my grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary.

I’m exhausted just writing about all of this.  How do you cope with a crazy schedule and avoid becoming overwhelmed?