Yes, this is MandyE.
No, this blog hasn’t been hijacked.
Really…it’s me…who lives and breathes by the clock and has
the spreadsheets to prove it…
And no, I haven’t thrown the clock to the wind, allowing the
girls to wake up and go to bed when they please. I haven’t allowed more than a 15-minute
window for the start of meals and snack times.
And I certainly haven’t said the girls can nap if and when they feel
like it.
No, mealtime and sleep-time structures are all still in place. But I recently found myself really
appreciating the lack of schedule most of our days have in other respects.
On Wednesday morning, I had plans to take the girls to
Panera for a mid-morning snack (between 9:30 and 9:45, approximately). We had missed our weekly bagel the week of
Thanksgiving, and I was afraid our Panera friends would think we’d moved to
Canada. I was looking forward to a cup
of hazelnut coffee, and I had my grocery list and coupons ready for our
shopping trip following our snack.
The girls didn’t know what I on my list, though, and they
hit the ground hard on Wednesday morning.
Before breakfast they’d already planned a birthday party for their baby
dolls, AND traveled to Mongolia (???).
They broke for breakfast, and then hit it hard again, organizing the
kitchen chairs into a train, and then running around, talking about “construction”,
moving pillows and blankets and stuffed animals with incredible determination.
At 9:00, I wrap up my coffee time and typically join the
girls in playing. They were so engaged,
though, I decided not to disturb them. I
started cleaning in the kitchen, folding some laundry, and they didn’t even
blink.
I was thinking we could skip the trip to Panera, have snack
at home, and then do our shopping, allowing them to play a little longer.
But they were still so involved.
Snack time came and went, and they hadn’t taken a breath.
I just let them play…as long and as hard as they
wanted. Finally, at almost 10:30, they
paused to ask about snack. They had a
few crackers and some milk, and then they asked me to play “hair cut” with
them.
The three of us played and read for an hour, and then it was
time for lunch.
We never made it to Panera, and I was running low on milk,
but that was OK.
It’s days like these (among so many other things, of course)
that make me so thankful that I’m home with the girls…that I can allow their
imaginations to wander as far as they want…that I can hop into and out of their
pretend games as they ask me…that we can wind down for cuddles together.
This was one of my biggest fears of starting the girls in
preschool this year, that we’d lose this awesome sense of “home”. I am so thankful that it still thrives. It’s worth a million times more than even the
most inviting cup of hazelnut coffee.
7 comments:
That sounds like a wonderful day. :-)
Sometimes it's nice to fly by the seat of your pants, huh? ;) Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming...
This is such an evocative..engaging..inspiring post. Thanks for this pocket of sunshine. ;)
My friend, this is huge :) but so lovely!
It is nice to go with the flow occasionally!
Sounds like a day that will always be remembered with a smile. And you can always come down to Canada for some Tim Hortons :)
I thought your blog had been hijacked.....
One of my goals for Dec is go with the flow, which is very easy since there are no little ones to deal with :)
Oh, you've made me nostalgic for those days when our schedule involved going to the market! I loved the never ending play time and now, deep in the trenches of third grade, we miss out on so much of that "being home" wonder. The play room is vacant five days per week, home time is homework and bath and dinner, and moving on to the next day. Savor this time!
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