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Our family’s recent
lifestyle has been feeling much more chaotic than usual. Our schedules
have become more compressed and overlapping and our surroundings have been
thrown into upheaval as we try to get our home ready to sell.
As a person who
thrives on routine and plans, this has stressed me out like nothing else
ever has. My husband would be the first to tell you that I’m not handling
it well at all since he is frequently caught in the crossfire of my
stress-induced outbursts. But several recent instances of chaos have led
to some new perspectives on my part, something I never could have
anticipated.
In an attempt to
present our home in its best light when we list it for sale, my husband
has been extremely busy painting almost every room and hallway. In order
to do so, just about every piece of furniture has been moved around. Our
dining room was the most recent area to be out of commission, with the
table, chairs, hutch and piano pushed to the middle of the room as if
huddling together.
As I wiped down the
walls before my husband started painting, I noticed some crayon marks in
the corner. This was the corner where we long ago placed a small picnic
table for our little girls to do their coloring and craft projects. Those
little crayon marks sparked a flash of memory.
I could see them as
if they were right in front of me, sitting there together, my oldest a
preschooler concentrating on her “work” and her toddler sister kneeling on
the bench next to her. They were huddled together much like the massive
furniture seemed to be in the middle of that room. What a gift, to
remember so clearly my oldest two girls in a sweet moment from when they
were so tiny.
More chaos ensued
recently when I needed to move our dinner times much earlier to
accommodate our oldest daughter’s schedule. Due to her role in the school
musical, we have had to get her back to school for later afternoon
rehearsals that run past 9 p.m.
Our two year old is
as much a creature of habit as her Mommy, so I’ve been dreading this “tech
week” schedule, not knowing how she would handle the short amount of time
between nap and dinner and then the much longer stretch between dinner and
bath time.
Again, this change
that I viewed as chaotic at first has resulted in a welcomed fresh
perspective. The earlier dinners have meant more time for evening walks
around the neighborhood with my two youngest daughters while their big
sister is singing and dancing her heart out.
If it weren’t for
our newly freed up evening schedule, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity
to stroll to the library to see my middle daughter’s school artwork on
display, along with some of her fellow students’ projects. I would have
missed her excitement in explaining to me that although the picture looks
like it is folded and curved, it really isn’t – it was the illusion
created by the shading she learned how to do in art class.
It was also on one
of these walks that I was able to realize just how observant our two year
old is becoming. Instead of just relaxing and resting in her stroller as
she used to do, she now points out everything she can see and wants to
touch. In fact, she reached up at one point, stretching her little arm as
high as she could and said in a strained voice, as if lifting a heavy
weight, “Touch…sky!” She is noticing the world around her and figuring out
how she fits into it.
So this is a note to
myself (and my husband has every right to remind me of this the next time
I’m freaking out about whatever chaos comes next!):
Shifting furniture
can bring to mind vivid memories. Shifting schedules can bring
opportunities for observing my ever-changing girls. Chaos can lead to
perspective.
Maybe that could be
a new board game. Imagine the commercial - “Chaos Scavenger Hunt – race
the clock to fight your stress! Search for your silver lining in the
middle of your mess!” I have a feeling my husband would be first in line
to buy that for my Mother’s Day gift! |
