A Day for Yes
If you are not offended by a bit of profanity, click here for a very funny commentary on life.
If you didn't click on the link, it's a post about how it is easy to sit around not doing much except for those days when you get a burst of energy and decide to clean and take care of bills and answer emails; you know, all those things that responsible adults should do. Although I think I'm usually pretty responsible, largely because I have kids and I have a job with set hours, there are definitely a lot of areas of my life that feel like that. Sometimes I feel like I do the bare minimum and shove anything I can get away with over to the side to be dealt with in some future, nebulous "later".
I was realizing the other day that, in some ways, the ease of modern living encourages inertia and sloth. Because the necessary tasks of feeding, sheltering, and clothing my family take relatively little effort, it is easy to make the rest of my life take little effort as well. I wonder if I would be so lazy about doing my laundry if I had to go pound it on rocks down by the river; because it doesn't take much effort to throw it in the machine, add soap, and turn it on, my life has a relatively high amount of 'extra' time. I'm sure those ladies who have to wash their laundry in the river or who have to haul water would love to have the luxury of 'extra' time, but I have realized that since I do have that blessing I really need to use it for better things. (I also wonder whether I'd be the kind of person who would just wear dirty clothes all the time if it took that much effort to wash them).
On days when I force myself to start doing things that need to be done, rather than hiding in a book or browsing on the internet, I feel good about myself and actually accomplish more. It just takes a little push.The other day I made a list of errands that I needed to accomplish. They were all small things, but together they felt overwhelming. I also prefer to run errands without kids when I can, and most weeks I do have time when my kids are with their dad and I can do this. However, this was not one of those weeks. I wanted to put things off and spend this morning lazily sitting around the house. Instead, I packed up Little Dude and P.Bibby and we went to Lowes to return a defective tree stand, the pet store to get some fish food, Kohls to try and find Little Dude some dress shoes (we got P.Bibby some clothes instead), and the mall for shoes at Payless. When we were at the mall Little Dude asked for lunch from Chick-Fil-A, so I said yes, because it really was the most convenient option. And while the three of us were sharing our nuggets and fries, I realized that we were spending time together and that the kids had not been whining or fighting all morning. And that I was getting things done so I could feel better about myself. Yes, driving to the store for fish food or kids shoes is not as heroic as walking a mile to pound my clothes on a rock, but it was making me feel overwhelmed anyways and I'm glad I overcame my inertia to do it.
If you didn't click on the link, it's a post about how it is easy to sit around not doing much except for those days when you get a burst of energy and decide to clean and take care of bills and answer emails; you know, all those things that responsible adults should do. Although I think I'm usually pretty responsible, largely because I have kids and I have a job with set hours, there are definitely a lot of areas of my life that feel like that. Sometimes I feel like I do the bare minimum and shove anything I can get away with over to the side to be dealt with in some future, nebulous "later".
I was realizing the other day that, in some ways, the ease of modern living encourages inertia and sloth. Because the necessary tasks of feeding, sheltering, and clothing my family take relatively little effort, it is easy to make the rest of my life take little effort as well. I wonder if I would be so lazy about doing my laundry if I had to go pound it on rocks down by the river; because it doesn't take much effort to throw it in the machine, add soap, and turn it on, my life has a relatively high amount of 'extra' time. I'm sure those ladies who have to wash their laundry in the river or who have to haul water would love to have the luxury of 'extra' time, but I have realized that since I do have that blessing I really need to use it for better things. (I also wonder whether I'd be the kind of person who would just wear dirty clothes all the time if it took that much effort to wash them).
On days when I force myself to start doing things that need to be done, rather than hiding in a book or browsing on the internet, I feel good about myself and actually accomplish more. It just takes a little push.The other day I made a list of errands that I needed to accomplish. They were all small things, but together they felt overwhelming. I also prefer to run errands without kids when I can, and most weeks I do have time when my kids are with their dad and I can do this. However, this was not one of those weeks. I wanted to put things off and spend this morning lazily sitting around the house. Instead, I packed up Little Dude and P.Bibby and we went to Lowes to return a defective tree stand, the pet store to get some fish food, Kohls to try and find Little Dude some dress shoes (we got P.Bibby some clothes instead), and the mall for shoes at Payless. When we were at the mall Little Dude asked for lunch from Chick-Fil-A, so I said yes, because it really was the most convenient option. And while the three of us were sharing our nuggets and fries, I realized that we were spending time together and that the kids had not been whining or fighting all morning. And that I was getting things done so I could feel better about myself. Yes, driving to the store for fish food or kids shoes is not as heroic as walking a mile to pound my clothes on a rock, but it was making me feel overwhelmed anyways and I'm glad I overcame my inertia to do it.
Comments
So - good on you for taking them along and teaching them to be good public citizens. They (and those people they interact with) will thank you later..
Teaching kids proper behavior in public is not possible without going out and practicing in public.
You may not remember but your Mom used to take you guys to the beach on the city bus. She did this because she wanted to go to the beach - but also because she knew that you guys would not learn to behave in public unless you had the chance to try it out.. Aren't you glad she was a wise mom?? Lemon Grove to Pacific Beach on the bus with little kids was a challenge but it was worth it in many ways...
I'm proud of you for being a wise Mom as well...
I so identify with that cartoon.
I always picture that cartoon when I'm having an energetic day :)
I never had to go down to the river with rocks for laundry. I have had the laundry that you do with a bar of soap in a bucket, with your own hands (and no hot water). It helps in that situation to wear the same outfit for days on end and to never wash your long black skirt more than every 6-10 months. If it isn't obviously stained or odorous to those outside a 4 foot radius, it is clean. I also never once in 17 months washed my sleeping bag. I did, however, wash my feet nightly before bed. (Partly because I'd just peed on them on the squat toilet before bed, but... I like clean feet at bedtime anyway.)