A few weeks ago I was working on a paper for school. I was in a hurry, not only because of my deadline, but also because I was hoping to cross this item off of a very long “to do” list. Yes, it was one of those weeks which required serious focus and attention. There was no room for dilly-dallying. And so as the beads of sweat began dropping off of my forehead, I emailed my paper and began prepping our foyer for a new coat of paint. It was at this time when I noticed my son sitting on the sofa in our living room.
“Hey mom,” my son says, “watch what I can do.” There he was, sprawled out on the sofa. A large bowl of grapes rested on his stomach. “Hey mom, check it out. I have been practicing and watch how good I am.” He then began tossing grapes in the air while strategically moving his head in his attempt to catch them in his mouth. After chomping on several grapes that successfully landed in his mouth, he smiles and offers, “Isn’t that just the coolest thing ever? Not even one grape on the floor.”
With my long “to-do” list in hand, I managed to smile at my son but felt a bit jealous and envious of him. It seemed like just a few years ago I was the one spending oodles of time carelessly wasting a day by doing absolutely nothing.
Yes, do you remember those days when you kept busy with really important and meaningful activities like spending hours searching for four-leaf clovers? (I always wondered what I would do if I ever found one). Or, perhaps the hours you spent lying on the grass in your attempt at defining the shapes of clouds that floating miles above you? Where did those days go?
Remember the days when about the worst thing that happened to you was your mother telling you to get inside because dinner was ready, thus ending an exciting game of Kick the Can. Or, the days when stopping for a bathroom break was a huge disruption to whatever it was you were doing outside. Heck, now it seems I hide in the bathroom simply to get away from my kids. Who, by the way, always find me and for some reason, perhaps only known to the Creator, feel it necessary to hold serious conversations during such private moments (And then they have the nerve to complain about the smell. Hello? You are the ones who followed me in here. What did you think I was going to do, bake a pie?)
Yes, the lazy days of summer have been replaced by the hurry-up-and-get-all-of-your-indoor-projects-done-before-the-warm-weather-arrives-days. Today, my relaxation comes only by watching my son practice such useful activities, you know, such as the art of grape catching (Which will look really awesome on a resume some day), or from the satisfaction received by crossing off an item from a very long “to-do” list.
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