Getting My Bearings

Earlier today I sat at the kitchen table with my teaching notes while Brooke sat across from me with her coloring book and crayons.

That dear child could not stop talking.

Mommy, what happens if someone falls into a pit?  Would it be dark?  How would someone get out of a pit?  Would they climb out?

Her questions advanced from practical to philosophical.  Why are there pits, anyway?

Typical of three-year-olds, her monologue shifted directions: how she wanted to make a pinata out of napkins and Scotch tape, how she planned to convert our kitchen into a movie theater by taping pictures to the refrigerator, why she wanted to wrap all of her stuffed animals in blankets like packages.

I realized afresh how challenging it is to straddle the dual worlds of home and work simultaneously.

I'm not particularly good with change.  Given this, whenever my schedule or my family's schedule drastically changes (like the start of a new semester), I remind myself that it's okay to take a moment to get my bearings.

It's okay to push the teaching notes aside and answer a surprisingly thorough series of questions about pits.  Then it's okay to request thirty minutes of uninterrupted time to work.

Grace, I remind myself, grace, grace.

There's enough grace to navigate these full days.

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8 comments

  1. Lol. Sorry. Didn't mean to laugh at you, but with you.
    I adore change, so...guess you must be like my hubby. Same ole same ole. I need much grace to do that. Guess we all need grace for all kinds of reasons.
    Love the name Brooke. If God should give me another girl, I would seriously try to talk my husband into it.  God bless you! Happy new semester and stay away from the pits.

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  2. I'm so right there with you since both Hubby and I work at home. The questions are endless, and when they aren't questions, they're comments that require affirmation. I figure it was my fault because many years ago I prayed for help in becoming a more patient person. I now live with the patience-chisel. I feel that piece of me being chipped away every time my precious, precocious one opens her mouth (right at this moment she's playing the piano while Doug's trying to work). I won't snicker. Really.

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  3. New schedules always throw me for a loop.  Always.  And I think you are right: we have to allow ourselves time to adjust.  Additionally I think you are something akin to Superwoman because you can juggle a career with being a mother and a wife and probably a thousand other things. 
    I totally know you can do this. 

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  4. Thank you so much for your vote of confidence, Ami.  Now will you follow me around all day saying nice things?

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  5. Ah, the prayer for patience always involves having more opportunities to demonstrate that patience, doesn't it?

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  6. You easily-adapted-to-change people impress me!

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  7. Faith NelsonJanuary 13, 2012

    ahhhh yes, those teaching moments at home!  little ones are amazing with the depth and breadth of questions they come up with, aren't they?

    you're amazing.  I'm sure you'll manage this with your usual grace and aplomb, with a dash of humour. =)  And yes, it's definitely okay to set things aside for a moment, and to ask for what you need.  Balance is always a good thing.  =)

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  8. "Balance is always a good thing."  Isn't that the truth.  Thank you, Faith, for your kind words!

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