What Was I Thinking?

I took the week after my return from the Dominican Republic off. I mean, off off....off. Seriously off. I took 2.5 hour naps, met girlfriends for breakfast, lunch and coffee. I watched more than a few episodes of Top Gear, read in the rain (aahhh) and generally tried to do as little as possible.

(Side note: I will publish an at length account of my ah-mazing time in the Dominican...prob this weekend when I am home alone (jumping up and down here) while kiddos and DH go camping.)

Anyway, back to my vacation from my vacation. I gave myself permission to be so lazy on the condition that I did in fact need to become more disciplined and would promptly do so next (this) week. And, I stuck to it - I even did lesson planning - yuck - and got up early - double yuck - to hike on Monday. The hike felt good, I was off to an admirable start and we dove in...head first. Remember what your mom used to tell you about diving - feet first, first time. Well, we had the metaphorical equivalent of banging our heads on rocks as we attempted to do school in a more structured, orderly fashion. (Triple yuck with a moldy cherry on top.)

At the end of today, after spending time in grammar books and doing a math test and even writing a history report, I'm left asking myself: What was I thinking? Clearly I wasn't thinking, at least not about anything that makes sense for my family. If I was thinking I would've remembered we don't do schedules. I would have embraced slower days instead of seeing them as a precursor to making empty promises to myself. I would have used my extra time last week to read with the kiddos and do crafts. I would have started my week decorating for Easter: Hello Pastels, where have you been all winter? I would have baked a cake with the kiddos...wait, hubby did bake a cake with the kiddos. Ok, that part went well. But, I would have relaxed and known at the end of it all - at the end of the week, at the end of the school year, at the end of it all, what needed to get done would be done, and what could wait, waited.

Funny, too, that I came home from the Dominican stressed about schedule when, you know what I worried about there? Nothing, nada, zilch, zero. For 8 glorious days not a single thing woke me in the middle of the night or sent me into a panic. And so, that's what I want to bring home. Not a renewed sense of 'have to', but a renewed sense of gratitude for what I get to do, everyday. So, tomorrow, we'll be reading, doing crafts and maybe a math problem, but only if we feel like it. In fact, I plan on implementing one more custom from the Dominican- the siesta. After lunch, everyday, the whole country shuts down - slows down - for a rest. This is perhaps the most beautiful custom I could imagine. So, it seems that it is indeed siesta time around here. I better get to it...

In His Service