In a normal situation, interruptions to your day can be irritating or frustrating. There is so much to do in a day that when a speed bump hits, it can throw you off. Our world is go, go, go: school, work, home, homework, dinner, swim lessons, dance, music lessons, playtime, outside time, reading practice, writing practice, family movies, game night. The pace of life is relentless and exhausting.
Every once in a while, something will happen which will force you to stop and just be. In my case, this came as a text from my daughter's teacher letting me know that after an entire morning of uncharacteristic weeping, my daughter had fallen asleep in class and could I perhaps pick her up to sleep at home. I had spent the morning in meetings at work and running around trying to stay on top of things and falling desperately behind because it is a busy time of year. I had a lot of work to do at work but I immediately agreed to go and get my daughter.
When I got to her classroom, she was still asleep in a little timeout tent and I had to wake her and we went home together, just the two of us. She ate her lunch in the car and since I neglected making my own lunch, I ate her leftovers because I'm a parent and that's what we do.
A testament to how she was feeling, she climbed into her bed without complaining and fell asleep for four hours.In the time between my daughter falling asleep and my son coming home, I was alone for two hours in the quiet of my own house.
I did not check my email. I wrote a little and did not worry about work. Instead, I watched a little TV and snuggled into the couch with a warm magic bag and enjoyed a forced interruption to my regular routine.
The internet is full of unhelpful memes aimed at "helping" moms remember to take time for themselves. The idea of "self-care" is a silly phrase that is functionally meaningless. Self-care to a working parent, or any parent really, is advertised as taking a bubble bath or having a glass of wine at the end of a long day. Somehow, the magic of warm water and booze will make everything better and magically restore your energy for the rest of a busy week.
It doesn't.
What does help though is a moment or two alone in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week, with your youngest child in a deep restorative sleep in the room next to yours. Sometimes, an unplanned disruption is the best gift to help you slow down and recover the balance that is so sorely needed in our lives today.
Enjoy your own disruptions and remember to take care of yourselves in whatever way works for you.
Be kind.
