A few weeks ago I was working on a paper for school. I was in a hurry, not only because of my deadline, but also because I was hoping to cross this item off of a very crazy “to do” list. Yes, it was one of those weeks which required serious focus and attention. There was no room for dilly-dallying. And so as the beads of sweat began dripping off of my forehead, I emailed my paper and began prepping our foyer for a new coat of paint. I then noticed my son sitting on the couch in our living room.
“Hey mom”, my son says, watch what I can do?” As I turned in the direction of my son, I noticed the huge bowl of grapes on his lap. “Hey mom, I have been practicing and watch how good I am?” And then he began to show me what he had been working on for who knows how long. Yes, my son was spending his morning throwing grapes up in the air and catching them in his mouth. Of course our dogs were circling him like sharks for those grapes which missed his mouth and landed on the floor.
As I looked at the length of my “to do” list I found myself a bit jealous and began to wonder just how I arrived at this place. And then it dawned on me – I have hit middle age! (I really hate it when that happens). It seems like just a few years ago I was the one spending oodles of time carelessly wasting a day by doing absolutely nothing.
Yes, do you remember those days when you kept busy with really important and meaningful activities like spending hours searching for four-leaf clovers? (I always wondered what I would do if I ever found one). Or, perhaps the hours you spent lying on the grass in your attempt at defining the shapes of clouds? Where did those days go?
Remember the days when stopping for a bathroom break was a huge disruption to whatever it was you were doing outside, whether you were in the middle of a serious game of kick the can or flashlight tag. Now it seems like I hide in the bathroom simply to get away from my kids, who, by the way, always find me and for some reason feel it necessary to hold serious conversations during such private moments (And then they have the nerve to complain about the smell…Hello? You are the ones who followed me in here, what did you think I was going to do, bake a pie!!)
Yes, the lazy days of summer have quickly turned into the hurry-up-and-get-all-of-your-outdoor-projects-done-before-fall-arrives-days. And so as my son continues practicing the useful art of grape catching (Which I am sure will look really awesome on a resume some day), I, like many of you, will continue to add and hopefully cross off items on my “to-do” list.