When was the last time you asked someone how they were doing and their answer was, “Busy!”

There’s a new epidemic going around our society. It has hurt families and friendships because there isn’t enough time to give either one. It leaves little time for our own self-care and nurturing. It is trying to destroy home cooked meals and the sit down dinner!

Symptoms include not having time to have a tea party with your daughter because you have sports practices, not having time to play catch with your son because of an after school activity, and not having date night with your husband because the kids have activities at 2 different places and you have to divide and conquer to get everything done before bedtime only to find yourself crashing after the kids are in bed, worn out and unfulfilled.

Many of the symptoms could be avoided if we only allowed for some time to rest, unwind, and just be. We all get the same 24 hours in a day. What we do depends on us.

When was the last time you:

had friends over for a barbecue?
sat down and did a craft or make cookies with your kids?
had a “girls day”?
went on a date with your significant other?
read a book?
worked on a hobby?
exercised?
The “Too Busy Syndrome” robs us of our health, joy, and the things we love.

Have you fallen into this trap, too?

The worst part is that most of us mistake the “Too Busy Syndrome” as a sickness and instead wear it as a badge of honor! We aren’t satisfied unless we can get empathy from a friend for our busy schedules!

I’m not proud to admit that I’ve worn that badge, too. It didn’t take long to see the side effects of the “Too Busy Syndrome” in my family. My kids were exhausted, cranky, and whiny. My husband and I were arguing over petty things that we had never argued over before. I hadn’t seen my friends in far too long. The list could go on and on, and the side effects were bad!

I shamefully admit that I’ve answered that I was “too busy” to sit down and read bedtime stories because one of the kids’ practices had taken too long, rushing my kids into bed!

It wasn’t until one of the girls cried that “all I want to do is stay home and play with my Barbies” that it really hit me how the “Too Busy Syndrome” was destroying happiness in my family (and I’m sure many others).

It’s time for that to stop! It’s time to shelf the activities that don’t bring our families joy and to focus on the things that do. Our kids deserve to have time to ride their bikes, play Barbies, and have bedtime stories but we are going to have to come together and start saying, “NO” to the “Too Busy Syndrome.”

Do you suffer from the “Too Busy Syndrome” or know others that do? What is one way you are not letting the “Too Busy Syndrome” into your household?