Unscheduled Time

 

This morning began in bed with my two younger daughters and our dog.  Nowhere to hurry to.  Nowhere to be. Nothing but time and each other.

As the snowflakes fell outside the window the girls brought out their baby books and one at a time we paged through them.  We laughed.  We made “oohs” and “awws.”  They were grossed out by their dried umbilical cords that I saved in a ziplock bag.  My youngest wondered a bit sadly why her baby shower invitation was an Evite while her olders sisters’ invitations were printed on pretty card stock. I told her Evite probably wasn’t invented when her older sisters were in utero.  And then more conversations began……

Unscheduled time.  It is beautiful and magical and when I have it to spend with those I love most it creates the perfect day.  It creates conversations that aren’t about schoolwork, sports and schedules, but rather conversations that are spontaneous, silly, sentimental and sometimes deep and philosophical.  It sparks thoughts about Evite and wonderings about what will be invented when my girls are moms.  It leads to ideas and discussions and dreams and sharing things not usually talked about. And it leads to hugs and laughter and love.

As my daughters get older their lives are busier.  I am busier.  As a five person family we sometimes have to be five places at once and I miss everyone.  Even as I type my oldest daughter and my husband are at a field hockey tournament in Florida.  They are missing our gentle snowy day, but my husband text that our daughter scored a goal after diving for the ball and then text an hour later to say that her team won the championship of their bracket!  A perfect and exciting day for her in the sun, a perfect day for us in the snow.  And I know that while we may not always have the five of us together physically, we are together, always.  I just need to take a minute to be thankful for each unscheduled moment with each child, or my husband, or even by myself because unscheduled time for me is just magical.


So for today I am thankful for three of us in bed on a snowy day, looking at baby books. And I am thankful that now, as I type, my two younger daughters who often fight, race past each other in route to activities and argue over whose turn it is to have the dog on their bed… right now they are outside building a snow fort together and laughing.

Right now I am writing, drinking a cup of tea and looking out at beautiful white upon the trees.  And I don’t have to go anywhere.  I don’t have to do anything.  And every person in my family is happy.  What a blessing.

I think about other times when my family is unscheduled other than holidays, and there aren’t many.  Even when we plan family outings, games, dinners, someone has something later or beforehand or homework looms.  I ask myself how to fix this?  How can I find a day no one has anything? When our girls were little this was easy, but with age comes commitments.  With age comes responsibilities. So I just have to seize the moments when they come, like today.   

And I know that when the snow stops, time will begin moving again.  When the snow stops schedules will resume.  But for now I embrace today’s magic and am thankful for the reminder that unscheduled time is truly magical.

I hope those of you in Denver enjoy this beautiful snowy day and those of you elsewhere have a day where time stands still sometime soon.  

Blessings and Love,

Kristy

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