routine distractions
July 15, 2015 § 2 Comments
There has been little time, of late, for online distractions beyond virtual visits to our home and sporadic e-mails to friends. I’ve signed off social media and I’m trying to decide if, much like the physical clutter of my home, this outlet has become a lost space in my days.
Photographs and news links, quips and opinions rattle around like misplaced game pieces and unsharpened pencils in a drawer too burdened by disorder to lend purpose.
I love the far-reaching accessibility of old friendships and the convenience of quick updates, but I wonder if I’ve traded the ease of a 24 hour social news source for the more intimate and intentional act of working at a more genuine connectivity.
Without my morning updates, I’ve uncovered minutes buried beneath old routines and a calmer attentiveness to the space within my home; but I’ve also lost touch with the lives of those whose paths do not overlap mine.
And so I wonder at this trade, like a pair of garden sheers long covered by magazine pages and unused recipes; where will I direct my attention as I create a new order to my day?
homework helper
September 5, 2011 § Leave a comment
A little over a week into the new school year and we are all passively protesting the routines like a new pair of shoes that are pinching and confining. We fuss over the discomfort, grumbling under our breath at the inconvenient newness while longing for the old, beloved, well-worn comforts of summer. Each child tumbles down the stairs half conscious for breakfast only to scramble each evening into bed exhausted and eager to cocoon among dreams. Behind the scenes, I too am begrudgingly adapting to a new school year.
Our mornings are busy with breakfast and simple acts of preparing for the day ahead. Evenings have lulled us into a false sense of normalcy; sunshine makes the hours after school dismissal seem longer and an absence of homework makes the new year feel deceptively, effortlessly manageable. I am mindful of evenings ahead centered at the dining room table as textbooks, paper, and sharpened pencils steal lazy evenings outdoors.
Homework has often signaled a power struggle between my children and my expectations. This year, I am hoping to change the dynamics of dreaded anticipation into an opportunity for accountability. I am attempting to empower my children to seek out the answers, by giving them room to find them. I fall too easily into the habit of coaching and editing; controlling under the guise of helping my very capable children through their work.
I began to step back from the homework table when my son was in 4th grade, giving him room to make mistakes. This year, I am trying to create an expectation of independence for both children. I am placing myself off to the side, waiting to see if they need me and willing to help if necessary; fostering a quiet faith in their ability.
Tomorrow will be a true test as we juggle our first school day with homework and evening activities. Fingers crossed, this is the week we settle into our after-school routines.
scheduling conflict
August 3, 2011 § 2 Comments
My husband and I could live in different time zones for our inability to coordinate our internal alarm clocks. I am perpetually early, he is unavoidably detained. Sometimes our schedules overlap creating momentary chaos; this is how a misplaced minute created opportunities for appreciation.
Running late returning home from work to watch our children, my husband met me at the salon where our children were stoically braving the dismally uninviting peripheral space of women embracing a moment of pampering. The children, overjoyed to see their father, leapt gratefully towards an eager exit. Another stylist, leaning into my chair, murmured her appreciation for my children’s good behavior while waiting. This is not a compliment I am accustomed to, and I was aware the shuffle of little people between mismatched schedules had created an opportunity to appreciate my children through another’s eyes.
Finishing up at the salon too late to take my daughter to swimming, my husband taxied her to class. The tiny details of well-practiced routines were reassigned. My husband figured out how to fix our daughter’s hair into a pony tail. Small thing, but a new moment between them. Another everyday act experienced from a new perspective.
Returning home to quiet, my family detained at swim lessons, I threw dinner together and finished folding a load of laundry with time to tuck them into drawers. Normally I would have run an errand, indulgent or necessary, my mind focused on extracting an extra minute for myself. Instead I was settled and peaceful when my family returned home. Rather than walking through the door to a household bustling with energy and anxious for dinner, I welcomed them eager for their company.
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