As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him--you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2: 4-5

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Sharing, Sound of Music, and 'me' time

I love that my children are active.  I love that they are involved in just about every aspect of the school and church.  But sometimes, just sometimes, I wish we had just one weekend where we didn't have to go go go.  I know the chances of that with five children are slim to none, but a girl can dream, right?
Anyways, these past few days have been filled with the Sound of Music.  It's involved a lot of driving around, picking up and dropping off, and so little time for anything else.

I did have a window of about 45 minutes at home yesterday and I did get this cute picture of Charlotte enjoying Hannah's birthday present.  Every time she sees it, she cries to get on it--and we, like the good parents/siblings we are, give in to her and put her on it and push her around the circle that has been made with the new addition.
 We missed Sarah's opening night because it was Hannah's birthday, but Daryl and I took in the show last night, and it was truly worth all of the hard work and practice.  Great show.  Here is my little Frau Schmidt in costume on stage.
 And this one is way blurry (Daryl chose this time to experiment with the camera settings), but this was her costume change.  They called it her "sexy housekeeper outfit."  It was a dress that I had bought for her thinking it was cute a few years ago.  It hung in her closet until she needed a "really ugly dress" for this scene.  Guess her idea of cute and mine are now in the vastly different category! Ha!  She does have on my shoes too--which we both agree are fab-u-lous--gray and black 1940's style pumps.
 After the show.  She did such a good job, but it really was a shame that she has such a beautiful voice and didn't get to sing one note in the play.  The part she had wanted had gone to someone else, and to be kind, her singing ability left much to be desired.  Sarah would have done such a better job, in my totally unbiased opinion!
and where does the "me" time come into all of this?  Well, that came for a measly (but very much appreciated) hour this morning.  I was driving to my weigh-in this morning (down another pound, thank you very much!), and thinking I would just weigh in and leave and not stay for the meeting part.  Maddy had been less than enthused at being woken to watch the girls this morning when I left, and I had laundry and cleaning and baths and schoolwork to do out the wazoo.  But when I got there, and the meeting topic was "making time for you!" I knew that I had to stay.  I spend all day every day taking care of, teaching, nurturing, meeting the needs of others.  Doing what needs to be done when no one else will.  Putting my needs last.  It high time to have a little time where I came first.

So I stayed.  And for 45 minutes, I got to talk to other adults about something other than children.  I got to sit with nothing in my lap, nothing to do in my hands.  I got to learn and laugh.  It was chaos as soon as I left as I rushed to get everyone the much promised breakfast and arrange drop offs, pick ups, and meetings.  But just having that time to myself made me feel a little less stressed and a little more equipped to deal with it.  After all, they (whoever they may be) say that when I'm older and grayer and I have no one to take care of but myself, I will miss this.  And you know what?  I think they might be right!

4 comments:

  1. congrats to your beautiful (sexy??!! ha) Frau Schmidt! :) Hopefully one day someone will realize her potential & let her SING!!! :) I tell my kids that too - "just wait - God has plans for you when the time is right; you will SHINE!!"
    I had a few hours of ME TIME this morning too as my husband took the kids away ... BLISSFUL.

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  2. when you are "older" and "grayer" you will still have that wonderful husband to take care of. That was a life-long commitment.

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  3. Sara looks wonderful. It would have been even more wonderful is she sang, but maybe next time, she'll have an opportunity for that!

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  4. Congrats on your pound and meeting! I worked out today for the first time - woohoo! Every little bit counts.

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