My Mid-Year's Resolution

A few weeks ago, I was having brunch with a friend and we got onto the topic of therapy overload--not just our kids' but, well, ours actually. We weren't talking about the number of therapies we do, or the scheduled hours, or the team meetings and emails and infinite details of our kids' programs. We were talking about the inexorable feeling that no matter what we do, we're never completely "off the clock." Every moment--a bath, a meal, a trip to the store--is a learning opportunity waiting to be fulfilled, and every moment we're not alert to the therapeutic possibilities feels wasted, and then we feel guilty and worried, and like bad parents, and you know what? That's a load of bollocks, as the English would say.

This summer, owing to the vagaries of our lives, Isaac will have a little less therapy, a lot more Daddy time, and about the same Mommy time, but there will be one other important change. I promise that we will do a lot more living in the moment, and a little less obsessing about the therapeutic potential of each of those moments. He will be a kid, we will be his parents, there will be mistakes and messes and simple tasks and pleasures, and he will learn and grow and have fun, and it will all be just fine.

And the next time someone says, "just find twenty minutes in the day to...." I will smile politely, and consider it, and then take a deep breath and whisper to myself: "This is a marathon, not a sprint. This is a marathon, Susan, not a sprint. It's going to be okay."

So, are you with me?

Comments

[b]

and there will be no "Beata time" :(

[kristen]

Not only am I with you, I'm taking it a step further. We are opting out of therapy and summer school in favor of a 4 week visit with family and friends. I'm pretty sure I need some time on the sidelines more than my son does...

[Vicki Forman]

Lovely. I have so much reading to catch up on here with your blog! All the more reason to slow down.

[jennifergg]

Yes, absolutely.