Well, it had to happen sometime. Our son has battled colds so far in his meager 18 months of life, but has yet to have a case of the stomach flu, until this past Friday. It wasn’t as bad as other cases I’ve heard of, and thankfully my Kenyan neighbor, whose son has been hospitalized a couple of times for dehydration, had given me some advice a while back to just make sure he’s drinking.
Eli was unusually clingy, but even in the midst of that, I didn’t feel overwhelmed or stressed. Rather, I just felt glad that my life wasn’t too scheduled or committed that his illness would feel like an imposition on my life. I had been trying to follow a routine this week for cleaning our apartment, and so most of the housework was done, but I did have to let the dishes pile up a bit, and change our plans to go see my husband coach a volleyball game on Friday and go to a baseball game this weekend.
Trying to dial down lately the number of commitments I have, and even more importantly, the number of expectations I place upon myself, has really made a difference in my sense of contentment. For awhile since I’ve had Eli, I’ve felt the nagging pressure in the back of my mind to “contribute” more financially to our family, but at this point, I’ve come to peace with the fact that at least for the remainder of my pregnancy and a year or more after having baby #2, it’s not helping me to put those expectations on myself. Rather, I’m trying to simplify more, figure out ways to live more beautifully and creatively, and enjoy the free but priceless joys that surround us. I’m also trying to remind myself that what’s more important to a sense of “home” are not perfectly arranged designer pillows, but the comforting arms of a mother or wife who is available and content when her family needs it.
I’ve been reading a few blogs lately on simplicity and thought you might enjoy them too:
www.down—to—earth.blogspot.com
www.frugalgranola.blogspot.com
Both blogs focus on living a simpler life, and taking joy in what many deem to be domestic drudgeries, like taking care of your home, enjoying cooking and sewing, etc. I’ve slowly found that while I’m not perfect, I have enjoyed doing things around the house more and more, which was the inspiration for creating a category on my blog called “Domestic Prozac.”
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Your perspective really rings a bell with how I experienced life after children! My daughter is 3 and my son is almost 1. You are right about God’s grace. And just now as I type, I try to think of times when I felt I didn’t have enough hands to go around. I guess that happened early on, but really? not so much anymore. The family settles into a new groove and it’s hard to remember what it felt like just wrangling one child! Just like it’s hard to imagine my life before children – what? I slept in sometimes?? I ran errands ALONE??? Really? ha ha.