Soapbox

For the past week and a half, I have been without a car. My husband's car was in the garage, and he needed my vehicle to get to and from week. Yesterday, I reached my limit. The kid's and my schedules had been put on hold long enough, and I had to have a car. The best solution was for us to take him to and from work.

This entailed getting up much earlier than I am used to, waking and dressing the kids and an hour and a quarter ride in the morning and again in the afternoon...not to mention the boy's gym class. Now, this may not sound like such a big deal. Thousands of families do this every morning to get their kid's to school on time, or because a single car is all there is. Regardless of the reason, there is a great deal of planning involved, and I take my hat off to anyone that can pull it off day after day.

What I found really interesting was the comparison between the frantic running around of the morning; pulling sleepy kids out of warm beds and packing them in the car before they knew what was happening, and the day's flow once all the 'stuff' had been attended to.

After dropping my husband off, and remembering to exhale, I took the kids to their favorite watering hole for breakfast. While they reveled in their pancakes and accompanying happy toy I slowly enjoyed the best cup of coffee I have had in a long time. I repeatedly told them to take their time with breakfast, as we didn't have any running to do for a few hours. After they finished eating, they played with their toys, we talked and I continued to offer thanks for the cup of coffee.

We just let that time happen. There was nothing else to get to, pack for, or negotiate traffic through.

It was glorious.

It made me realize how the life we have chosen for our family; schooling at home and me working from home, just fits our temperaments. Our family really functions better without rigid structure and scheduling. We are all more at peace when we stop cramming our days with stuff and just let it flow.

Of course, everyone is different. Our lifestyle may be much to disorganized or chaotic for some. The key is finding what works for you, so that peace and joy can come from each day.

all the best,

Catie

Copyright 2001, WomanLinks.com

About the Author : Catie Hayes is founder/editor of WomanLinks.com; a community of support, spirituality, growth and empowerment for women. She is a freelance writer, the single homeschooling mom of two, and an avid fan of laughter, spontaneous dancing, cats and chocolate (not necessarily in that order).