5 In Thoughts & Observations

The Peace That Comes With Laying Down Your Cape

I could swear I saw a tweet a few weeks ago that said Mercury was about to go into retrograde.  I have no idea what that means, but the last time I knew it happened, things went to hell in a hand basket for everyone I knew.  If it really IS in retrograde, I’m marking every future occurrence on my calendar from now through 2053 because it’s been a helluva few weeks. Work…sick kids…babysitters who quit via text message

Casa de Morgan’s had enough chaos that I’ve surrendered all pretense of offensive maneuvers and settled on pure defense so we can weather the storm.

I know I’m not the only one slogging through life’s trials and tribulations.  Just today, Kristen Lamb posted the painful month she’s suffered, and several of my good friends have had hair-raising stories I’m sure I could pull a thriller out of if I were into that sort of thing.

But you know what?  It did get me to do one GOOD thing.

I laid down my cape.

Yes, moms and dads…multi-taskers of all walks of life….I opted to single-thread my way through the past few days. My super-human dash through the to-do list gave way to sweats and fuzzy moccasins.

And I loved it.

Oddly, it wasn’t until this morning that I realized what was going on.  Late last night it became evident that my oldest drama queen beloved daughter wasn’t going to shake the stomach bug her little sister so graciously gave her in time for school, so I sent out emails at work saying I’d be working from the chateau.  I was breezing through the morning routine when it hit me.

I wasn’t stressed.

I wasn’t yelling.

I was enjoying myself, kissing my kiddos (despite aforementioned cooties) and focusing on mommy stuff.

The realization ratcheted me to a standstill.  “What is this odd sensation?” I asked myself.

My inner flower child stretched out on her tie dye chaise and let out a very relaxed, “You’re only doing one thing at a time.”

Ohhhhh….

I started toward the washing machine again, more thoughtful than moments before, and wondered, “Why I don’t do this more often?”

Why does it take life beating me into submission to simplify things?  Or, more importantly, will I learn the lesson this time?

Odds are, life will snowball as it’s wont to do, but at least I can be aware.

What about you?  Does life carry you away and trick you into multi-tasking to the point you’re forced to surrender?  Or do you exercise better control?  Maybe schedule dedicated time off for your multi-tasking inner superhero?

Oh, and the retrograde thingy?  Yeah, we’re in it.  Just keep hanging on until November 10th.

 

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5 Comments

  • Reply
    Susan Shay
    November 5, 2013 at 7:23 am

    Your babysitter quit with a text message? Aw, man. I hope you find a new one ASAP. They’re important!
    Maybe you should have bought her a cape. 🙂

  • Reply
    Marianna Heusler
    November 5, 2013 at 7:43 am

    I like to think of the Robert Frost quote, especially at night, when I’m wondering why I can’t do something and being frustrated because there is nothing I can do. “Let the night be dark for all of me. Let the night be too dark for me to see into the future. And let will be, be.”

  • Reply
    CJ Burright
    November 5, 2013 at 6:27 pm

    There are days I’ve wistfully wished I was sorta sick, just to have the excuse to take life down a notch, lay on the couch, catch up on my shows, and do nothing else. Slowing down is hard to do when there are a zillion things clamoring to be done! I say enjoy the downtime, no matter how it comes about.

  • Reply
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    November 13, 2013 at 9:20 am

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  • Reply
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    […] know what happens to a woman’s memory after we hit forty), the world’s worst babysitter quit via text message and left Daddy-O and I scrambling to handle afternoon childcare. Since my day job is on the […]

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