Freedom and Me-Time!!!!
I am free! As I type this post, the only things I can hear are the air conditioner and a plane flying overhead. Even the dog is silent and taking a nap at my feet. For the first time in almost nine years I have some alone time on a regular basis. The kids started school today and Aiden is now in preschool.
Rejoice!
This gives me just under three hours, three days a week, to start making those medical checkups I’ve been putting off, finally make some real improvement on the house, volunteer in the kids classrooms, and even blog or scrapbook sometimes. I almost welled up with tears after I dropped Aiden off. Not because he’s my big boy growing up. But because I was driving alone to go enjoy some solitude in my house!
It was a very exciting morning for all of us. First I took Blake and Trinity to their incredible school, which, to our surprise, had colorful helium balloons all over the entrance, including a rainbow of them which we had to pass under to get into the school. The Star Wars theme music blasted through a sound system outside and I imagined (or observed?) that my kids were feeling quite awesome and powerful as they entered their school with such a welcome.
Trinity is now in first grade, which means she has graduated to a full-day of school (more good news for me)! She is so excited to eat in the cafeteria.
By the time we waved the kids off as they herded into the building, there were 40 minutes left until Aiden’s school would start so he and I hopped over to the vast desert trails below the mountains just minutes from the school and took a walk. We started doing this regularly last year when my reader, Ron, commented about a woman who takes her kids out into the wilderness for three hours a day. Three hours daily won’t do for me, but once a week for an hour would. I still have stories to tell about that first adventure we took, and maybe now that I have a little peace and quiet I’ll get around to it (as well as a bunch of other topics many of you requested I blog about) over the next few weeks.
So, for thirty minutes we observed butterflies, dragonflies, lizards, and other moving creatures. Aiden always likes me to hold him not long into our trek, so I get to add thirty pounds to my weight with him on my back, I can hike at a faster pace, and I get some exercise while my boy and I bond and observe nature.
At the right time we headed off to Aiden’s preschool (”for the development of the whole child”) where he sang to his teacher right away. We realized during his newborn days, and again when he was two and started singing to us, that he is musically inclined. Other people notice it all the time, too. He loves to sing. And he loves to hear music.
But back to me. I am on my Ikea chair, the dog is sleeping on my footstool (thus, my feet are not inclined), I have my laptop where it should be and a cup of Chai Tea next to me that I just finished.
Should I make a third cup, just to celebrate?
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August 14th, 2006 @ 11:10 am
Yes, definitely have a third cup. Well done. It is a really long haul raising littlies. I know the time is just a quick dash in the greater scheme of things and that these early years are so precious … but it is never having a moment to yourself (except as you lie awake unable to sleep in the middle of the night) and never being able to finish a thought because someone has to tell you something important (and you do take it as important because you really care about what they think) … it just seems so long a time when you are in the thick of it. You are an awesome Mom, so take your well deserved break and just Be. Cheers.
August 15th, 2006 @ 8:53 am
I am an occasional lurker but just had to comment on this one. I loved your comment about how happy you were to drop your son off at preschool. I had a similar experience when I dropped my oldest at preschool for the first time (before we had our 2nd). It was so nice to be alone for a few hours! I’ve got a couple more years til I can experience that again.
August 15th, 2006 @ 8:24 pm
Totally off topic here, but I just came across a site with my son and I thought of you and your kids. We were talking about Galileo and how he didn’t tow the Church line. He observed the natural world/sky, questioned accepted beliefs, did his own experiments and was able to prove his ideas. The Church was wrong and Galileo was right. Hopefully, this is the first of many discussions about how to observe, question and think for oneself.
There is a junior version called Star Child http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/StarChild.html
and an older kids version called Imagine the Universe http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html
The coolest part is the “Ask an Astrophysicist” which has some good answers to lots basic questions (why is the sky blue) and those really far-out there questions (the kind that I can’t even begin to understand).
August 15th, 2006 @ 8:44 pm
Hey,
It’s extraordnary how a few minutes of time to oneself can be so precious. It’s all relative, isn’t it? If you had no kids or other things to keep you busy, time alone could be excruciating. But in the whirlwind of raising a family and being part of larger society often allows for little in the way of discretionary time. The little bits we can scrounge up now and then become golden.
Of course, our kids are out of the house, and the day to day routine is now much slower for us. But I still find the best time of the day for me is just after getting up and having that first cup of coffee with the newspaper before me on the breakfast table. When the weather permits, I sometimes take it all out to our covered patio out back which usually has a soft breeze wafting through it. I can see my garden and one of our hummingbird feeders from that vantage point. There is usually a good deal of activity to watch. I often get through the coffee only to realize I have forgotten about the paper. That’s okay, though.
My wife, Joan, and I often sit out there in the evening as well, sometimes not speaking, just enjoying the stillness or the random noises from the neighborhood. Life’s not all bad.
TLS
August 15th, 2006 @ 9:50 pm
Wow!
This is new, huh?!
That’s a long time to go without spaces of ‘me time’ dependably built into your schedule!
Certainly a parenting milestone!
Enjoy!!
I have been keeping up with the nature walks with the baby, too. We have about 6 miles logged for the week so far, including some time playing in a creek and a picnic. We get out 3 or 4 times a week like this. Sometimes she’s in the jogging stroller – more often on my chest in a Bjorn, we make stops for adventures, and the gathering of treasures. We’ll start building more toddling time into it, now that she is able.
I started a tradition on our first walk – I bring home one rock, the size of my foot. We have a growing pile of them – and I hope to make a rock garden or something with them. We’ll be able to go to this collection and reflect on all our walks together. When she’s able to understand – I’ll ask her to pick up a rock the size of her foot on each walk as well.
August 16th, 2006 @ 11:19 pm
When I read this post, I got all excited for you!
Enjoy your me time! Also, I love how you take your son on walks. Maybe I’ll do that with my little guy after Emily starts preschool this fall. It’s novel to think about spending time with just one child when you have more than one. That’s what I’m looking forward to.
February 4th, 2007 @ 6:56 am
I just came across your site while doing a search on getting more me time as a mom. I recently conducted a study amongst my mommy friends on what they do to get their “me time” because since becoming a parent, this is something I long for all the time. Check out the responses: http://www.babytalkers.com/2007/manicures-pedicures-and-magazinesoh-my.html