Last spring, a few weeks into being a two-child parent, I made a list. I'm really big on making lists to feel like I have some semblance of control over my day, or really over anything at all. After several days of being frazzled and spinning, spinning, spinning, I got up early in the morning to have a moment to myself. Sitting at the kitchen table with pen and paper, I boldly wrote the title of my list: "Ingredients for a Satisfying Day." It didn't take long to think of the things that I wanted to include in my daily experience. Here is the list: special time with CB, a walk, time in the garden, one load of laundry, time at the piano, and healthy, yummy home-cooked meals. After starting this blog, I added writing to the list. Since then, I have at least known what I was aiming for each day as CB, H, and I have been learning to navigate these days together.
This past weekend, I read Steady Days by the blogger Steady Mom. It's a book about making motherhood an intentional profession, a career that can be approached with the same sorts of tools and attitudes that one would integrate into regular worklife. I found myself very inspired to really get going on some of the organizational inklings that I've had over the past few months. I had developed a daily flow for us but hadn't managed to get the darn thing printed out yet. We've been using weekly meal plans for ages, but they hadn't beem integrated into our family calendar. In addition to just regular organization for figuring out what the heck is going on (which is hard enough to for my brain to focus on amidst baby noises and a stream of incessant narration of a three year old), I am challenged to come up with a coherent plan for Clara's homeschool world.
So, I got it all pulled together - the daily/weekly plan for the kids and for me, Clara's Montessori work and B4FIAR time, and our meal plan. Wrote down the recipe. Mixed it together. Printed it out. Hell, yeah.
All of which brings us to today and this post. If the universe is trying to reward me for all of my intention setting and planning, it's working.
We had a fantastic day today. It started with a fruitful harvest in the garden, where I again was amazed at the way that the garden always provides for our CSA deliveries. Then I spent an hour with CB, while H slept, working on some Montessori activities: using the dropper, practicing C,D,P,T, working on the color tablets, and practicing "May I please?" and "Thank You" with a little game. It was so energizing for me. Next, it was on to the garden to pick raspberries to make fruit & yogurt popsicles. We went on to make broccoli and spinach quiche. We hung some laundry out on the line, after modifying the clothesline to include a low line for CB to hang her own clothes up. Lunch with Grandpa and Dad followed by quiet time, when I got to go through a pile of paperwork that had begun to take on a life of its own. Clara requested time on the swingset, followed by a very HOT walk/bike ride to the little general store down the road. Next, yes, there is a next, we went to the pool and ate dinner at the playground with my sis-in-law and her little girl. Wow.
It's great to live it and then to write it. One of the true blessings of the day comes in the reflection and with the flood of gratitude it brings.
I actually feel a wave of good ol' Lutheran guilt after writing all of that out. It seems almost too good to have enjoyed a day like today. I'll revel in it anyway. I think that joy and gratitude are the point, right?
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