I’ve Made It!! I Think?
Just to provide a little bit of background……I’m a somewhat stressed, uptight, Type A kind of person. Those of you who know me are shaking your heads and chuckling because you can picture me right now in one of my “episodes” shall we say. Knowing that is crucial to understand where I’m coming from as I write this blog.
When my first son was born I took 12 weeks off of work. (I only worked 2 days at that time). He was still getting up throughout the night the week before I was to go back. I was beside myself thinking – “how am I going to survive on such little sleep”? Well he started sleeping through the night the very week I went back. I thought, “I’ve made it!” Life was good. Then came along twins……….not only were there TWO of them getting up throughout the night but they did not sleep through the night until they were 14 MONTHS old – not 12 weeks as my first son did. But eventually they did sleep through the night and I thought, “I’ve made it”! I enjoyed life and got plenty of sleep. (Usually)
Soon it was time to potty train. OH MY!!! I never really had trouble getting the “binky” away………I never had trouble getting the kids to eat………..They sat through church each week pretty well………Potty training……..OH MY!!!!!! When people ask my advice about potty training I tell them to fly to Seattle. Before you think I’ve lost my marbles (which again those of you who know me are shaking your heads and smiling) let me just say that when the twins were 2 ½ and I was in the midst of potty training, we had to fly to Seattle to attend my cousin’s wedding. I thought that there was no way I was going to worry about trying to potty train while flying clear across the country so I loaded up the suitcases with pull-ups, diaper bags etc. and off we went. When we landed in the Seattle airport one of the twins said, “I have to pee”. Well watching 5 adults scrambling around looking for a bathroom was hilarious to two 2 ½ year olds. Therefore they spent the entire trip announcing that they had to pee and enjoying the scramble to find whatever bathroom might be close to whatever we were doing at the time. A bonus was that it was great fun to use the bathroom in the hotel. They went the ENTIRE trip without peeing in ONE pull-up!! (And never peed in their pants again I might add). That was great except I had to cart the suitcase of the pull-ups home instead of packing up souvenirs! But I will say it was worth it. Because once again I thought, “I’ve made it”! No more diaper bags to haul around, no more dirty diapers to find somewhere to dispose when we’re out, just get in the car and go. J
As the kids got older I started to work more. Then came the daily anxiety of “beating the bus home”. It’s a wonder I wasn’t killed in an accident or sent to the poor house from all the speeding I did those years trying to make sure I was home before the bus got there to drop off my precious cargo. But guess what? Eventually they reached 5th and 3rd grades and were old enough to be safe for at least 15 – 20 minutes on their own and my anxiety decreased immensely and I thought, “I’ve made it”! I enjoyed several years of this bliss.
Then we hit junior high where guess what? Sports now meet EVERY BLESSED DAY! No more nice little schedules where you practice 1 day a week and have a game 1 day a week. No – we must have our children to that school every single day to become super athletes. Back to the stress of figuring out who could get home in time to get them there. Rushing to the school from working late hoping your kid wasn’t the last one there with the coach tapping their foot waiting to go home. Making numerous calls to set up car pools……you get the idea. But then………we finally hit the “Sweet 16” and those young athletes could get themselves to practice EVERY BLESSED DAY. J And I thought, (You are seeing a pattern here right? You can guess can’t you?) “I’VE MADE IT”!!! The kids can get themselves where they need to be, I can schedule my work as needed without having to rush somewhere every night – heck I can even stop for groceries on the way home if I want and free up my Sat. mornings! Life is good.
In the midst of this “goodness” of having children who can drive themselves places there are still some stressors to be dealing with . (And I’m not talking about the scariness of knowing your children are in charge of a 2,000 pound vehicle although that IS something to be concerned about……………) I’m talking about sending your first child off to college. You want to talk about STRESS??? And not just some nice little college in a little college town……….I’m talking Pitt in the middle of PITTSBURGH! I literally thought that I would hyperventilate that last week before he left whenever I even THOUGHT about leaving him there and driving away. But you know what? We’ve almost completed one semester and I think I’ve ALMOST made it! (haha – fooled you didn’t I?) He has survived, learned how to wash clothes, has not starved, calls home occasionally and I am enjoying having the ‘extra’ bedroom in our home! (Yes – we still let him sleep there when he comes home. J ) So you see there is a light to be found at the end of every dark tunnel.
By now you’re probably asking yourself – “So what is the point to this blog”? The point for me is that as I look back over my life I hope that I’m not just living to reach those “I’ve made it” times. You hear all the time to enjoy the journey and to not just always be looking far ahead toward the destination. I do think I’ve gotten better at that as I’ve gotten older. But if I’m not careful I can still find myself saying, “what’s going to happen in 2 years when I have 3 kids in 3 different colleges and they all need to come home at the same time – how am I going to get them all, how am I going to schedule things, how, how, how………”you get the idea. I want to live in this moment where I’m currently in an “I’ve made it” (or an “‘almost’ made it” as the case may be) stage. What’s the point of those times in your life if you’re not going to enjoy them? If you’re just going to be worrying about the next hurdle? I think that this is the perfect time for this reminder with the Christmas season upon us. This time of year is notorious for all the hustle and bustle but I am really going to try to take a moment (or 2 or 3) to sit and watch the lights on my tree. To start a fire and watch the flames and to just ENJOY the journey through this Christmas season. I think it will be good practice for learning to ENJOY this journey we call life – don’t you? Will you join me?
Blessings,
Tracy R.
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