Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Speed


As I pulled in the driveway after a lunch date with friends, I glanced in my rear view mirror and saw that 3/4 of them were asleep. The tricky part would be keeping them asleep. I figured I had a good chance since they played hard at the playground. 1, 2, 3 tucked in...I was successful! As I locked the front door after carrying the last one in I muttered a quiet "yes!" This N
EVER happens. I actually has some time to do what I wanted to do. Abbie went to the kitchen to find a snack and I did a quick pick up of the living room and kitchen.
Abbie: "mama, can we do something just you and I?"
Oh no, this wasn't in my plans! I wanted to fold laundry, do breakfast dishes, start dinner, sit down and knit, check email. I had such grand plans for this sacred time. I had a dilemma!
me: "Would you like to help me fold laundry?" (This usually works.)
Abbie: "No, I want to do something funner. Can we sew my cape?" (We didn't have that much time.)
me: "No Bee, We don't have that much time, the kids will be waking up soon. Would like to help me cook dinner, we're having soup??" (This usually works too!)

Abbie: "No, let's play a game."
At this point all I can think about is how I want to tell her to go to her room and read her book. Go color me a picture or find something quiet to do so I can finally fold that laundry, or for once start dinner without little people all over me in the kitchen.
me: "What game do you want to play?"
We go into her room to find a game. I remember that I recently taught her to play speed and it is a relatively quick game. Maybe we can play a few games and still have so
me time to myself.
me: "Do you want to play speed?"
Abbie: "yeah"
We get the deck of cards and head into the living room. We play 3 lovely games of speed. I am starting to feel really good about my decision to spend this time with her, and not doing chores. As we are wrapping up our last game, I suggested she go take a bath. At that very same moment, I hear Eleanor cooing from her bed. I realized that anytime I wanted for myself was just a dream now. I kept myself from feeling resentful to these precious girls who wanted nothing but my love and attention. It is true what they say, there will always be chores, but these little people will not always be here. As I get ready to go to be
d tonight, I know I made a wonderful decision. My eldest and I don't get a lot of alone time, and I am so so happy I decided to spend it with her.


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