You may be thinking that you need a prescription, but it could be that you need to drive a road that lazily winds around a mountain lake. Roll the windows down and sing to the Doobie Brothers.*
Kids don’t need DVD players or iPads if one of ’em has a fishing pole, the other has a floaty mattress for playing in the lake and they both have nets for catching minnows.
Moms don’t need laptops, internet connection or a day at the spa if they have a good friend to chat with and reservations for dinner.
The withdrawals from that lack of internet connection last about four hours. Fill the void with Cheetos and red wine. It’ll pass.
__________
While we were away, I couldn’t help noticing the gorgeous flower beds in the yards of the homes we passed. Are all those folks unhappily married? My flower beds were gorgeous when I was married because I desperately needed the therapy that gardening provided. Now? Meh… flowers are nice, but a contented, happy home and thriving kids trumps flowers.
Kids love live theater even if there’s kissing and lots of singing. They’ll want to sing showtunes on the ride home.
There are vineyards closer than Napa that are beautiful in their own rite.
There are different kinds of fear. There is the fear that you’ll mess up dinner; the fear that the house isn’t perfect; the fear that he’ll hate your new haircut; the fear that he’ll criticize your son about his skateboarding in the driveway; the fear that he’ll make fun of your daughter for growing out her bangs. Those are real, every day, make-it-hard-to-breathe fears. The prospect of moving out and living on our own was initially scary. Now life is largely void of fear unless you count the fear that we won’t pack in all the adventures we want to take this summer.
Give a girl a camera, get out of her way, and prepared to be amazed.**
Boys don’t care what kind of fish they catch, as long as they are catching something.
It doesn’t matter how cold the water is, kids’ll still wanna swim.
It doesn’t take more than about three days to remember how to relax.
Sleeping in does a body good.
Sometimes the best souvenirs are the rock shaped like a heart and the picture of smiling faces painted with frosting.
*Doesn’t matter how old you are, Doobie Brothers are fun on a road trip.
**Jenny took these flower pictures.
Tags: a girl can dream, child of narcissist, cuz I am Woman, friendship, gratitude, Parenting
Great flower pix! I need more lilies in my yard. Happily already have the pretty little yellow one… at least I think so.
I have a fear that I am not sucking as much marrow out of life as I would like to…No, I know I’m not.
Now, what to do about it…
I believe I need to do something more creative and artistic daily or at least weekly, which is A LOT more often than I’m doing it now.
OK, Donna, since you’re having a conversation with yourself, what WILL your project be? (And no, you don’t have to finish the entire paint-by-number canvas that you’ve had for two years already.)
But something.
Something tasty….something fulfilling….something small…
Maybe I just need to go look at my bead collection for inspiration. :)
Sounds like you had a great time. Maybe it was overdue??
Donna,
Have you noticed how when you are feeling that way… wanting to tackle a creative project – maybe it’s a braided rug made from old favorite t-shirts or a collection of homemade candles with individually inscribed labels … that maybe all you need to do is sit down and look at a book of beautiful artwork and your itch is scratched?
Sometimes when I’m feeling the need for a creative feast, I scroll through my Twitter feed and find great links to awesome art. It soothes my eyes, warms my heart, clears my brain and doesn’t demand that I spend any money on more craft supplies that will collect dust.
Just saying…
Pat,
It’s always good to spend time with folks who love and appreciate you for who you are.