Slow Learner

I have been a mom for more than fourteen years. Why is it that I am so slow to learn the lesson of Time Alone?

I was talking with a friend the other day who told me that she had gone to a movie and out for a sandwich by herself after exhausting herself giving a big birthday party for one of her children. I was amazed... I don't think to do this kind of thing, and I told her so. She said, "What do you do for yourself?"

Hmmm.

I am in my tenth year of homeschooling. Only one child this year, which is a fairly light load, especially compared to other years when I had four kids at home all day. Or compared to other moms I know who work full time and then come home to parent and take care of all their home tasks. Or compared to single parents I know who are responsible for everything.

Why should I complain?

I'm not complaining. I know I have it good. But I do think that sometimes I forget to take time for myself. I have one child, if not two or three or four, with me pretty much every hour of the day. Yes, there is that scant time between when I've left the last one's bedroom at night (it's 10:10 pm right now and he's still floating around the house) and when I go to bed, but it's not the same as Time Alone.

By dinner time tonight I had had about enough. Little One has been home from school this week with an unexplainable fever and general unpleasantness, which added to my need for escape. When Scott walked in the door at 7, I said hello and walked out.

It doesn't matter what I did, although it involved a honey orange latte from Starbucks and a walk in the cool,dark evening with my iPod, among other things, but as I neared home at the end of my several hours away, I realized how wise my friend is.

Thanks, Maribel, for reminding me of what I should have learned by now. Home and family look so much more appealing when you are coming back to them after Time Alone to recharge.