Funny today’s topic… Especially since this past weekend I did anything BUT reconnect… I disconnected almost entirely and spent the entire weekend like this…
Except far less adorable.
I don’t get sick often but when I do… I do it right. I’m not about to waste a visit to the Dr without walking out with some antibiotics that closely resemble horse pills… nope for regular bugs I prefer the “rub some dirt on it and walk it off” mentality.
But this? I screwed up. I felt the bug tickling my throat on Friday… and ignored it so by Saturday night/ Sunday morning I was M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-E. You may have noticed my absence from the Book of Face… I clearly wasn’t my normal witty self. In fact, I mostly slept and cleaned…
… off my DVR.
Watching bad TV is my own personal brand of comfort so yes, I watched a bit of Project Runway and Dance Moms and Franklin and Bash… and by “watch” I generally had it playing in the background, would watch 20 minutes or so… fall asleep… wake up when it was over… delete that episode and start a new one.
Occasionally I’d reach for my phone to text or Facebook browse but that was WAY more effort than I could muster in more cases than not.
So I didn’t. My half-hearted apologies to those who I “ignored”
I also wanted to eat all the food in an attempt to find “the thing” that would magically make me feel better. Â Lucky for me, I don’t have FOOD in the house… only ingredients. Â A fact that kept me on mostly broth because it was easy. And likely far better for me than anything I would have concocted in my “I want comfort food” state.
This morning, I felt a bit better… not enough to skip the Dr. visit this am to get the antibiotics I so desperately needed, but well enough to return some texts I owed and to peruse the book of face.
Now… I don’t know if it’s the fact that I’m really run down and foggy or just the normal feelings but I got a little misty eyed as I saw all of the “First day of school” pics from my friends. Tomorrow I’m bound to see more as a few other districts start. I love seeing them but it also reminds me of the cold hard truth that every co-parent has to come to grips with…
Sometimes I miss shit.
I have never had a Back to School photo op with my babies. That’s something their dad gets. There are other milestones I miss along the way as well.
What I DO get though, and the part I prefer to focus on, is the last two weeks when the boys and I got to reconnect in a connected world.
- Making dinner together
- Talking about our days
- Family movie night
- Reading together
- Groggy mornings
- Daily chores
The last two weeks were filled with so much fun – Austin’s Parks ‘n Pizza, Hawaiian Falls, Movie dates, time with friends… but the sweetest memories that I hang on to are the times when I get to reconnect with the boys on their level. Because “their level” changes so often… Like when the Giant can give me directions on how to fix something and I just beam at his brilliance… or when Mini-me picked up Harry Potter to give it a whirl… and now can’t put it down.
Those are the moments when we turn off our phones, ipods, computers and just sit in each other’s presence and remember that hey – we’re kinda awesome.
The start of school also marks the ability to get back into our normal schedules. Which means I can focus on me more than I did this summer. A fact that my scale shows all too clearly… so you’re about to see a lot more check-ins at the gym… healthier foodstuffs on the Instagram and Book of face…
I’m going to get back in the habit of chronicling the journey here once a week so you can follow along if you so choose… and so y’all can hold me accountable… so feel free to do so… ESPECIALLY as the fall weather hits. That’s when I’m totally game for taking walks with friends and getting outside. I’m sure the boys and I are gonna tackle the trails ’round town again when the cooler temps show up too so feel free to join us. Of course, as long as triple digits are around, you’ll find me in the gym. Where it’s air-conditioned. Cause I’m dedicated y’all… not crazy.
…at least not in this one regard. 🙂
Mostly, I remembered what it feels like to reconnect with yourself. Because as parents, we tend to forget that part. And as y’all already know if you’ve been around here for any length of time, there’s a reason why the flight attendants tell you to put on your oxygen mask BEFORE helping those around you.
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