Now
As I opened the blinds this morning and it was pouring with rain, I found myself thinking about how, if we weren’t in lockdown right now, my oldest daughter would be getting her bike out the shed and leaving for school. I then wondered if the waterproof raincoat that we had bought her for Christmas would have held up in this deluge or whether she would have arrived soaking wet.
Stirring from my thoughts, I realised I had spent a lot of time lately reflecting on what I would have been doing, could have been doing and should be doing in this season and it has not been very helpful...
Comparison is such a joy killer and steals away any form of contentment. In this age of home-schooling and lockdown, it has been so easy for me to think of all the ways I should be or could be doing my “juggling” better.
My thoughts were not helped by the fact that when I announced to my girls that we were going back into another lockdown they both groaned out aloud and said, “No not again!”. My immediate reaction was “Come on I was a good teacher, it wasn’t that bad?” Instantly I knew though, I was kidding myself - it had not been a pleasant experience for any of us and one that we were all glad to see the back of but here we were again.
In this past week, I have realized that it is my mindset which is important to get us through this. Obviously, I would much rather not be in this place but then no-one has chosen this. I have a choice on how I respond at this time. I can spend days wishing I wasn’t here and constantly comparing myself to others I see on social media, telling myself how much I should of or could have been doing OR I can embrace the now and find the silver linings. Like the fact that I don’t have to be out in the grey and the wet doing school runs.
Care for the Family posted this article the other day and it rang so true so I thought that I would share it. It said this:
Parents remember it’s OK….
Not to aim for an “Outstanding” in Oftsed home schooling
To relax on the rules on screen time
Not to have a colour coded activity chart
For teenagers to be missing their friends
For siblings to argue
For you to need some time out
It’s OK just to be there. Everything else is a bonus. Just get them through.
What a relief. I don’t need to strive for perfection. For now, all I need is to be in the moment. I need to embrace the now, live in the now and make sure that I give today my best shot. I don’t want to just count the days away, I want to make sure that the days count.