What a difference a day makes.
We had time to step away from the craziness of day-to-day life to evaluate, plan for the future, and set priorities. We drafted a family purpose statement to help keep us focused on what is truly important and filter out everything else. It will help us make decisions in how we spend our time and money. It is also a picture of who we are and who we want to be as a family. We set priorities to feed our bodies healthy foods, to become debt-free, and be and to generous and extend grace to each other and those around us, among other things. All wonderful, deep, challenging priorities for us to aspire to. As we were wrapping up our serious, future-looking conversation, Ben added one more item to the list...
A full 24 hours of only feeding ourselves, not preparing a meal, changing a diaper, wiping a nose, or refereeing a conflict over a toy.
A chance to think complete and somewhat coherent thoughts without interruption, to lay in bed and feel the breeze through an open window while listening to a lovely afternoon thunderstorm.
Sleep. Deep blissful sleep, with no chance of having to drag ourselves out from under cozy covers to assure our imaginative toddler there are no monsters in her room, or clunk around the kitchen making a bottle at two a.m.
We ate our meals slowly and lingered at the table without the pressure to get home, relieve a babysitter and go to bed before an early morning wake-up call.
We had time to step away from the craziness of day-to-day life to evaluate, plan for the future, and set priorities. We drafted a family purpose statement to help keep us focused on what is truly important and filter out everything else. It will help us make decisions in how we spend our time and money. It is also a picture of who we are and who we want to be as a family. We set priorities to feed our bodies healthy foods, to become debt-free, and be and to generous and extend grace to each other and those around us, among other things. All wonderful, deep, challenging priorities for us to aspire to. As we were wrapping up our serious, future-looking conversation, Ben added one more item to the list...
Be silly and laugh together.
There is a reason this guy is about to get his PhD. He is one handsome genius. What is more important in these trying/wonderful/wild/fleeting little years than to laugh? I have the choice a hundred times a day...Will I be frustrated when I find Samuel examining the bottom of a previously full container of dry oats? Or do I grab the camera before I grab the broom? Will I be embarrassed when Miss Independent insists on dressing herself and has her clothes on inside out, shoes on the wrong feet, and misshapen cowboy hat on her head when we go to the library? Or do I praise her efforts and ignore the rest?
I choose to laugh. And I have a sneaking suspicion that we will need our sense of humor even more in the years to come.
Although it was heavenly to have 24 child-free hours, we couldn't wait to get home. The time away gave me a rare chance to miss my precious Littles. It gave me the energy to focus on priorities I've been putting off and things I've been neglecting. I'm motivated to really buckle down...and get silly.
A HUGE thank you-thank you-thank you to the most amazing "Aunt NaNa and her Wee-am (Liam)" for taking the plunge into temporary parenting with grace and expertise. A couple more weekends like this and we'll call it even for being the masterminds behind your love connection.
1 comment:
You guys are so wonderful! Sounds like a family manifesto...http://alphamom.com/parenting/creating-a-family-manifesto/. Once Katherine can say things beyond "goggie bess fend" (doggie best friend), I'm all about creating a manifesto.
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