So, it’s been awhile and I thought I would sit down and write a bit since we are fresh off summer and hitting the ground running with the start of school. Often throughout the past few years I have attempted to write more often and just could not find the time/motivation/urge. However, I was driving the other day…solo. I was literally driving in a car by myself and had a moment to think and not answer any questions, and realized that at this very moment in my life I have hit what I would call a “sweet spot.” My boys are in school which has opened up this entirely new and foreign concept of time to me that until recently has seemed somewhat unattainable.
Each of my four hundred three kids are in school full time now and the question I have received from more people than I can count is “what are you going to do with all of your free time?” This idea filled me with so many possibilities and set my organizational heart on fire. Until I realized that it’s sort of a facade and this concept of “all this free time” is not exactly accurate. Even when my kids are at school, they still seem to need me. And I am not complaining about this. It is part of this “sweet spot” that I have identified and am trying to relish. The fact that these boys are independent enough to be in school for over 6 hours a day, and yet I am still needed on a daily basis, is heartwarming and encouraging. Especially in this moment because I know my time being needed by them will not last forever.
I guess to answer the question of “what are you going to do with all of your free time” is I am going to try to appreciate where I am in the moment. It is so easy to rush haphazardly to the next appointment, practice, errand, game, school event, etc. with a sense of urgency and lack of enthusiasm; and I am just as guilty of this as the next Mom. My goal is to appreciate this sweet spot while we are in it so we don’t only realize how great we had it until after it is gone.
And let me leave you with this little nugget. Maybe it’s time to schedule my next hair appointment with all this extra free time.
Tate: “Mom, I am going to draw your picture.”
Me: “Sounds awesome.”
Tate: “I am going to start with your hair. I am not going to do the gray part in the front.”
Me: “Thanks, I guess?!”
A Little Weiser 