My Day Off

In the spirit of summer vacation, I took the entire month of July off of writing on the computer. Yes, many said I couldn't do it, that I would fold under the pressure of pen and paper and sneak downstairs in the middle of the night to tap away briskly on the keys. But I made it.

Over the next few days, kids and schedule willing, I hope to take the notes from my notebooks and put together several more posts. But today is all about my day off. And for any mom (or dad, for that matter) who has packed for a camping trip, you will appreciate my day off.

For five days, we camped at Interlochen State Park. As a diabetic, I have to eat a certain diet and eat quite often, which means that before we go anywhere, I prepare all my meals. For days before we left I cooked quinoa, beans, ground beef, washed lettuce, sliced carrots and celery, made salad dressing...you get the idea. But it was all worth it because of what we did on Monday.

We left the campground and went to Good Harbor Beach, had a picnic lunch, went to a winery, then went swimming again. For me, it was a day away from household chores, writing and being a mom. On this day, I said "yes" to everything. I loved watching the girls grow bolder with each "yes":
Can we go swimming?
Yes.
Can we have a picnic?
Why not.
Can we go out for ice cream?
Yes!
Can we buy this?
I think we can.
Can we go swimming again?
I'd love to!

I want to carry that feeling into everyday, but chores must be done and being a mom takes energy and time and loads of patience (and laundry). But I can say "Yes" to my children when they ask me to play. I can make special moments throughout or weeks; perhaps not a full day of sunny-sunny fun, but when my kids ask me to be with them, I don't want to put anything else before them. I foresee dinners being a little late (or bowls of cereal for dinner - I know you do it too!), the laundry taking longer to complete, and perhaps my writing will be put on the back burner for a while.

My kids will always be my kids, but they are growing faster than I thought they would. Soon they will be adults. Someday they won't hold my hand when we cross the street or cuddle on the couch with me in the evening while we read together. So I'm leaving this post a little incomplete so I can go play with my son, then rock with him in the chair and enjoy listening to him breathe and dream in my arms.