Slowing down
It never fails. The kids want to watch a movie. I turn it on for them. Then the begging begins. “Mommy sit here!” “Watch it with me!” “Snuggle me!” I usually ignore these pleas because I have zero interest in watching Pokemon, Hamtaro, Blues Clues, or Barbie. Today was different. Today the movie pick was Zathura. I didn’t intend to watch it with them. I’ve seen Zathura before. But they wanted to watch the previews, so I sat on the couch while the previews were playing. I didn’t want to have to be called back into the room to make the movie play. Instantly both Gleek and Patches shouted “Yay!” and had claimed spots in my lap. I was pinned.
I pushed play. I figured I sit for a few minutes to appease the small children, then I’d get up and go do something productive. I actually attempted to extricate myself a couple of times, but was always met by fierce protests from both Patches and Gleek. “No mommy! Stay! Please!” Defeated and tired, I slumped on the couch and napped. Gleek and Patches didn’t mind me sleeping, they were actually glad because it meant I wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon. They snuggled up against me and watched the show.
Sometimes my kids don’t need me to do things, sometimes they just need me to be there. It seems like all day every day I’m running around Getting Things Done. In the process I often ignore various pleas from my children. They want me to slow down. (“Mommy look at this!”) They want me to sit still. (“Mommy, read this story!”) I have long legs and they have short ones if I don’t slow down they can’t keep up. For young children, who are dependent upon me for security, always running to keep up can be distressing. Sometimes they just want to know where I am without having to look for me.
Both Gleek and Patches had really cranky mornings. (Hence my resorting to a movie for peaceful occupation.) Both Gleek and Patches have had a good afternoon. I’m pretty sure there is an important lesson for me here. I need to slow down enough to figure out what it is and learn from it.