Back to the Basics
Seriously, the past six weeks and a few days since Finley's arrival have gone so fast, and there's no doubt in my mind that as soon as I gave birth, someone took control of the clock and began spinning the hands around a whole lot faster than they were going before the baby arrived!
And if time has been going fast, Finley has been growing even faster!
It's a mystery to me how can I spend hours every single day nursing and diapering and admiring this little guy only to be caught off guard by how his hands are chubbier, or he's outgrown another sleeper, or his hair has changed or he just looks older, somehow!
I am pretty sure that I could sit and stare at Finley for an entire day and I would still wonder how he had changed so quickly from morning 'till evening without me noticing it!
Life is so full and busy right now, even though I am only getting the basics (and I mean the bare-bone-basics!) done in any given day! My mornings are full of teaching school, my afternoons are about getting naps in and supper on the table, and if we're home in the evenings, they fly by so fast that it seems there are only a few minutes between getting up from the table and dropping into bed!
When, you might ask, do I get my work done?
Well, speaking of basics, the work I hope and plan to get done on any given day is about as basic as it comes! If, by the end of the day, I have washed & folded some laundry, cleaned the bathrooms or dusted one room, on top of necessities like getting food on the table, cleaning up after every meal and keeping the house semi tidy, then we have had a successful day.
You may have noticed that things like baking bread, sewing a dress, canning green beans or making chicken stock from scratch are not on the list, and that's because they simply don't exist right now, and while that, combined with the fact that the only act of "preserving" I did all summer long was to put 34 jars of strawberry jam into the freezer, may disqualify me from being a Good Mennonite Mom, it's one way I have figured out how to keep my head above water in this whirlpool that we call life!
I may not be able to look back on this as my most productive summer, if one gauges such things by how full and varied the pantry shelves are, or by how well I have maintained my flower beds, but on the other hand, if I can look back on this summer as the one in which I have rocked my baby well and started another school year with fresh enthusiasm, then I can go to bed with a clear conscious.
Sometimes the basics are enough.
I only wish that the same fairy who is making the hands of the clock turn so quickly these days would do me the favor of slowing it down just a bit at night to allow for a little more of one particular (and very basic!) creature comfort: SLEEP!!!
(And maybe some clean sheets on the bed to go with it?)
Good for you for focusing on what is truly important this summer.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you thought giving us an update on that sweet baby was important enough to squeeze into your schedule! Wishing you a good night's sleep. I'll think of you when I'm up at midnight with my not-so-little-and-too-old-for-midnight-feedings baby.
Gina
I don't have any babies, and my days still manage to fly by without me getting much accomplished, as it seems. Maybe we expect too much of ourselves? You will find, as times go by, what a huge help older children can be. It's amazing what they can do! I often find myself feeling guilty for not being superwoman. Is it our Mennonite heritage that causes this? Or is it comparing myself with other women?
ReplyDeleteThanks for blogging. I look forward to each new post.