The Case of the Mondays

And somehow, it’s Monday again.

Sometimes I love the weekend. This weekend, for example, I worked out a bunch on Saturday morning, then we brought the kids to my mom, and went out on a 10 hour long date. We saw Revenant. We walked to Dickey’s BBQ for dinner. We watched Brooklyn. We walked to Starbucks for some coffee. We watched Trumbo.  We got home a little after midnight, and fell quickly into a film-induced coma.  It felt like we were kids. At least, it felt like we didn’t HAVE any kids. And that, my friends, was a good time.

Last time I wrote, I was talking about my new resolution toward balance. Balance. And I’m still kind of stuck on that, so I’m gonna say a little bit more. Work can be exhausting. Kids can be exhausting. Homeschooling, things I’ve volunteered for, and house cleaning, and grocery shopping, and staying on top of bills and doctor’s appointments, and therapy sessions, and kids activities can be exhausting. Today for example: 8 hours of work, plus about 3 hours of driving between clients AT that work, then I have to go grocery shopping, and then at home, I need to prep for our homeschool group tomorrow, and exercise, because today I slept in till 6:30 and didn’t get a work out in. And oh right, the 3 year old has been complaining that his shoes don’t fit anymore. So… I need to go to Target? Maybe Walmart because it’s closer. Or maybe he can just squish his toes back for another few days. Or maybe no exercise. And of course, 8am tomorrow morning, we have to go DO the homeschool group.  And on and on and on we go.

I know I sound super domestic and whiney right now (Ugh. I have kids and a job and grocery shopping??? How does she do it?!)

I don’t know. That’s the answer. I DON’T KNOW how she does it.

Please, if you can get past the barfiness of that moment real quick, hear that I’m not really griping about my own life.  I promise. I’m just saying that life, as a thing, is just exhausting. That’s how life do.

I heard somewhere that real rest comes, not from doing nothing, but from doing something different. And the benefit I’ve got in life right now is that, I have a million options for that something different. Because kids is different from work, and different from teaching, and different from cleaning, and different from meetings, and different from groceries and different from exercise. I’m not sure that it’s really true, I’ll be honest. Stuff is stuff, and rest really feels most like rest. But I can tell you this: When you can watch a movie at the theater any day of the week, it’s not as special as when you get a free day and watch as many as you can. When you sleep in every day, a stolen hour in the morning isn’t worth the time. On the contrary, when you’re busy, when you work, when you accomplish, the rest, though rare, is sweeter than honey. Because why, you ask? Because BALANCE, that's why. Boom. Topical. Nailed it again, Maestro.