scribblechic

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.