Time is such a scarcity right now. I constantly have to choose: do I spend time working? Or should I cook? Clean? Read The Three Muskeeteers with my youngest? Go for a walk? Talk to my oldest about his plans for college applications? Take my middle kid shopping? How about read for fun? Or spend time with my husband? Go visit my parents? Take care of the garden? Go to one of the kids' meets? Help them practice music? I feel like I only have enough time to do a tenth of thing things I need and want to do.
I feel pulled into a hundred different directions all at once. Every day.
I am constantly catching up on things, only to fall behind on something else. I feel stressed, I get angry, I snap at the kids...
Most of the weekend was spent cleaning, cooking, food-shopping... I read a little bit and worked for a couple of hours. The girls and I watched movies in the evening. I reorganized a couple of kitchen cabinets, managed to go on a couple of walks, and watched a documentary on cistic fibrosis and another documentary on black holes. C had an orchestra retreat. H had a dive practice and a babysitting job. E was out of town.
E turned 18. He was away for his actual birthday (school adventure club camping trip) - so we celebrated a day late. I made his favorite carrot cake. My parents came over and we had an early dinner. E was exhausted and could barely stay awake. We'll hopefully do a more "official" party a bit later, with cousins and friends...
On Monday, I took a day off. I went to the Yom Kippur morning services, and I just sat there and let my brain do what it wanted. Which was - nothing. I felt so much better after . I have a complicated relationship with religion, but I like being part of the community, and I love the traditional melodies (our synagogue likes to "switch things up" and use more contemporary melodies for some of the prayers, which aggravates me... but Yom Kippur is mostly all traditional and therefore familiar).
How do you organize your time on weekends? If you like to have unsctructured "down" time, how do you end up spending it?
There are times I wish I had some kind of faith tradition; the idea of protected time to just be is very appealing. Alas, the other aspects of religion are not. I am glad you had the opportunity to sit and let your brain wander.
ReplyDeleteThis time of year is a mess for everyone, it seems—whether or not they have kids, work full-time, etc. I hope things smooth out soon and that you can have a b-day celebration with the b-day kid awake. ;)
Thanks, Anne!
DeleteIt is nice to just sit and be ... We need more spaces that encourage that. Libraries with giant reading halls... Would be cool if there were some museums that had "thinking rooms" with comfy seating...