The Mandated Break: Week 1...or is it 2?

Good morning.  I know its morning because I woke up while ago (two hours ago) made coffee and watched Willie Geist on NBC.  

I hear some people are getting days and nights mixed up like infants because they are on lock down.  

Did you ever think you would be in the circumstances of a pandemic?

I am thirty-eight years old and I have lived through/seen some recessions, a couple or three stimulus packages, a couple wars, terrorist attacks, the birth of HIV/AIDS as a public health concern, Ebola, "new" flus from chickens and pigs, the birth of the internet, the invention of TikTok, and now I can add - shut down from pandemic.

Ahhh the novelties of this life.  The ride that keeps us on our toes.  

In the midst of all this semi-organized chaos I have continued going to work, paying my bills, making dinner but without those other things like...

Picking up and taking kids to sports practices

Going to the YMCA to work out with my friends who are the same as family...

Going to the store fifty times because "oops" I forgot this or "oops" the kid forgot to tell me she needed that...

Last week I came home from work every day and changed clothes and immediately took the kids OUTSIDE.  We went to the track we got in steps, we kicked soccer balls, we threw softballs.  I made dinner late and had nothing prepped.  

We talked, we hung out, we had a nice week.

It was just like summer break came early.  

I embraced it whole-heartedly because I embrace a slow down.

As the week progressed I noticed something really nifty.  The kids weren't glued to their computers and devices quite as much.  Spring came and so did eighty degrees and sunshine.  I didn't have to say, "We're going outside" - they beat me to it.  They were on the trampoline, the scooter, the 4-wheeler, grabbing the softball bag from the car.

"Silver Linings "by Ava & Neve

And in those moments I saw something brilliant.

I decided after last Monday that the kids would be in charge of making dinner.  Each evening around seven or seven thirty I would call the kids in the kitchen and they would make the meal.  Not I.  And they didn't fight.  They were busy chopping, stirring, mixing, cracking eggs, seasoning vegetables or meat.  

And in that kitchen I witnessed something nostalgic.

Silver Lining by wmshop

Mama still had to be at work at the crack of dawn so our night time routines didn't change last week.  The oldest is a million percent capable of her night time routine.  I still need to warden over the youngest.  After shower, dental hygiene, and night time medication administration he was ready for a book in bed.  He would allow me to read him a whole library when we snuggle up if I had the ability to.  From those pages we would start a dialogue (we were reading Minecraft books) and it would flourish out from how many glass blocks to how many wool blocks to if we built this in real life to one day a little voice that will all too soon turn into a deeper one say, "I may be an architect, mama."

And in these moments I found what I have always treasured.

School may be out.  Work may be chaotic.  There may be stressors building up that cause you to have mild panic attacks.  

Please stop.

Just stop.

Open your eyes to what you have at this moment - look at the silver linings.  

Turn off your television and your social media and open your eyes to what this actually is.

Its not about an economy or a health issue.

You're being given the greatest gift besides love.

You have at your feet - time.

People write books, songs, poetry about how they wish they had more time.

And today March 2020 - you have been given the gift of time.

The government cleared your calendar.  The teachers filled the Google classroom with tasks that can be completed in an hour.  Your appointments are pretty much canceled.  Your work may be shut down or on a simplified schedule.  

You got your groceries.  

You're good.  

You're covered.

Put your focus on the fun, the joy, the people who you realized just a little while ago are growing so fast and you know if you blink one more time they will be driving, graduating, moving out.

Focus on that person you committed your life to.  The one that doesn't give you much attention because so much is going on or you don't give too much attention to because you seem to busy with the kids or the job.

Call the friend.

Go outside and blow bubbles, throw the ball, kick the ball, look under rocks for creepy crawlies, paint the picture on the canvas.

Plant the garden.  Jump on the trampoline (but if you have had kids and are over 35 don't!)  Go for the walks in the woods.  Watch the last Frozen movie *ughhhh.

Read the extra books.  Help with the Google classroom work.  Play the board game.  Make the new recipe.  Take the dog for an extra long walk.  Leave the cats alone - they are pissed your home so much now.

Embrace the gift of time that you have been given.  Let creativity drip from your soul like the slow drip of an old school coffee pot.

You have been given what so many have prayed, begged, and died over - time.

All good and wonderful things come from the Lord.

Make the most of it.

This is mandated.

David Stiendl Rast

xoxo