This is sanity time. I have a new evening routine. My old routine consisted of rushing frantically from suppertime till bedtime to finish all the nightly chores (and daytime chores that never got done). Dish clearing. Bib washing. Dishwasher loading. Lunch making. Laundry transferring. Stain treating. And trying to identify that bad smell in the hall… Then about an hour after the bedtime that my husband and I both agreed would be ideal, I would give up on what remained undone and start getting ready to crash for the night.
For my new routine, I frantically rush to finish my chores…just until the sun slips behind the pole barn. Then I know there is a quarter hour of daylight left.
And I leave.
I leave this.
And this.
And this.
While my husband handles the bedtime stories, prayers and songs for our two oldest, I go outside to walk and stretch and breathe.
Nine months ago, I wrote a post about taking care of ourselves, since we have others depending on us to take care of them (Momma, Don’t Drop Off the List.) It’s only taken me nine months to realize that in order to take care of myself, I don’t need a weekly spa date, a gym membership with drop-off babysitting, or a 45 minute morning jog (because none of these are my reality right now).
I simply need to keep one eye on the sun as I work. And then just leave. For 15 minutes. Maybe 20. Enough time to move around the body God has given me, in the beautiful place He has provided, during the loveliest part of the day He has created.
Motherhood is work left undone at the end of the day…every day. Some tasks I must finish before bed. Other people rely on me. I rely on God to help me accomplish what is most important in order to care for them.
And other tasks…I leave.
Because being here for this, for me, is most important, too.
