Working for a school district, I get big blocks of time off several times through out the year. Spring break, Thanksgiving, Christmas and about five weeks in the summer. I always have big plans to get a lot of things done during those times. My ambitions are high and my to-do lists are long. I tell myself that I should use this time to be productive.
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| Christmas Eve Church Service 2016 |
Yet here I sit, once again, at the end of my time off having gotten very few tasks completed. Generally I would be bothered by that. I would feel as if I had wasted an opportunity to get the house in better order, mop the floors, purge the boys closets, shred old paperwork or numerous other projects that always reappear on my lists. For some reason this time I am fine with it.
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| Christmas 2016 |
As I think about what I did do with my time I realized that I was productive. Maybe not in the way I had originally set out to be, but that's okay. I was able to do the job I love the most, mothering my boys. I shopped for them, cooked for them and did their laundry. I listened as they told me about the friends they were catching up with, how their rehearsals, workouts, hitting lessons and bullpen sessions were going. We spent time as a family, just the four of us. We saw the new Star Wars movie, toured the
The Roasterie, had lunch downtown at
The Brick KC and just hung out at home doing nothing. We enjoyed Christmas and New Years with family and friends, that are like family. We ate too much, stayed up late and slept in. Our time was well spent and we accomplished exactly what we were meant to accomplish.
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| Christmas 2006 |
I am not sure why all of the sudden my perspective has changed. What about this Christmas break redefined productivity for me? I think in part it has to be the stage we are in with our boys. I have seen firsthand how quickly time passes and how precious the days are when we are together.
Tomorrow Owen heads back to finish out his Junior year, filled with choir events, musicals, baseball and a trip to Washington D.C. Kellan will return to college this weekend to start preparing for baseball season, new classes and an internship this summer. We all will resume our schedules and maintain our commitments, picking up where we left off just like we have at the end of each short reprieve. This time however, I will return with a different set of goals for the next time we have a chunk of time to fill. I will realign my priorities so that I am less concerned about getting my chores done and more focused on the memories that could be made. The to-do lists will always be there, the chance to spend time with the people I care about most may not be,
