Confessions of a Pinterest Addict

Hi, my name is Kristin.....and I'm a Pinterest addict.  

As I've been experiencing the joys of Christmas break, I find that one of my favorite ways to spend my time is surfing Pinterest.  It is one of the best sites out there for people who love ideas and have no time to do them, or is that just me?  I have 1,521 pins and 202 likes, which means I have spent no less than 1800 minutes (30 hours) on this site.  Spread out over a year, this doesn't seem so bad, but I know it is definitely more like 50 hours, and I work full time so it could be even worse.  I think I have a problem, and I don't think I'm the only one.  I'm thinking I may need to establish a support group for Pinterest addicts, but I haven't found a pin for that kind of meeting.  Although I did find this cute pin:

Therefore, one of my goals for the new year (I just can't bring myself to admit that I have resolutions) is to spend less time on Pinterest.  I'm not giving it up.  That'd just be crazy!  There really are great ideas on there, and it's better than pulling paper out of magazines to save in a box that you'll never open again.  I will, however, set some guidelines for myself to follow.  If you, too, feel addicted to Pinterest, feel free to use these:    

1) Only check Pinterest half of the time.  This just means I won't check it everyday *fingers crossed*  I can find far better things to do with my time, like actually doing some of the projects I've pinned.  I can spend all day finding projects to do, but unless I actually do them,  I've been even more wasteful with my time than when I started.

2) Don't waste time or money. If I don't have the time to do dishes or laundry, then I don't have time for Pinterest.  In other words, if my sink looks like this: 

Not my sink (but could be)

then I should not be looking on Pinterest for ways to have a cleaner house.  It is so much easier to sit in front of my computer than to get up and do dishes, but part of being a Proverbs 31 woman is taking care of my household, even when I don't feel like it.  This also means that if we don't have our own money to spend on Pinterest projects, we shouldn't spend the money (unless agreed upon with the hubby).

3) Don't allow yourself to feel inadequate. This is probably one of my biggest pitfalls.  I look at all my pins, and I realize there are so many things I think I need to do for my house, husband, kids, and family, and if I don't do them, I'm unsuccessful.  As a working mom of 3 kids who are 4 years and under, I need to set realistic expectations for myself.  I'm not going to be able to decorate my entire house for each holiday, teach my kids everything they will inevitably learn in Kindergarten, and make the cutest cake pops for my son's preschool parties.  I need to be grateful for the blessings and talents God has given me, which may not include being Super Mom, just Mommy, which is all my kids want anyway.  

So join me, fellow Pinteresters!  Let's spend less time on Pinterest and more time in the real world!

Proverbs 31: 25-31

²⁵ She is a strong person,^[d] and people respect her.
    She looks to the future with confidence.
²⁶ She speaks with wisdom
    and teaches others to be loving and kind.
²⁷ She oversees the care of her house.
    She is never lazy.
²⁸ Her children say good things about her.
    Her husband brags about her and says,
²⁹ “There are many good women,
    but you are the best.”
³⁰ Grace and beauty can fool you,
    but a woman who respects the Lord should be praised.
³¹ Give her the reward she deserves.
    Praise her in public for what she has done.

Why Weird?

It has been awhile since I have entered the blogging world.  I tried it out a few years ago, but with a growing family (see header pic), I could not find the time or the motivation to sit down and write.  As our babies are becoming toddlers, I am finding the desire to write, as well as, the time to do it.  Going from one toddler to a new infant in 18 months was not too difficult, but two toddlers and an infant is exhausting, rewarding, challenging.  Parenting is no longer a two handed, man-to-man job.  My husband and I definitely have to maintain a zone defense.  A typical evening usually consists of our 4 year old son, Cade, climbing on our counters at least once to retrieve something, our 2.5 year old daughter, Avie, making a mess in the restroom because she has moved from washing her hands to washing her entire body in the sink, and our 1 year old son, Nate, climbing the stairs while we are attending to the other two.  Our house from an outsider's perspective is, I'm sure, rather comical.  Some people probably even think we are crazy for having 3 kids 4 years and under, and there are some nights when we'd have to agree.      

We may look a little crazy from the outside, but what we are striving for is WEIRD.

For those of you who know my husband, this may not come as a shock for you.  As a youth minister, he can portray himself as bit of an oddity, but that is more for the relationships with the kids.  As a family, we are wanting to be weird in a way that is different from the rest of the world.  

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

In a technologically-driven, desensitized to violence, sinful, secular world, we have to find ways to be set apart from the world.  About a year ago, my husband and I started reading Craig Groeschel's  book Weird (see below).  

http://www.amazon.com/WEIRD-Because-Normal-Isnt-Working/dp/031031576X

He and his family make some decisions to be the weird ones in the world.  For example, they have specific technology days at home.  When they are at home, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, nobody can be on any type of technology.  As parents, this seems like a great idea, but when you get home from work and you are trying to make dinner, it's a lot harder than it seems.  The television has become a babysitter, iphones have become an escape for kids and adults, and Facebook, Pinterest, and gaming apps can hold our attention for hours on end.  

I wish I could say our family is able to resist these temptations for even one day a week, but we continue to fail at this simple change.  We stopped paying for cable because it was cheaper and we didn't need to watch TV, but now we just pay for Netflix which has endless hours of shows and movies.  It doesn't even have to be good, we will watch it.

As we begin the new year, we have some spiritual resolutions that need to be made.  One of our first resolutions is to pray for direction and the ability to follow God's lead.  Spend some time in prayer during these last few days of 2012 and decide how you can be "weird" in the new year.