happenings of our home: Mommy & Meatball Moments

I didn't want to get out of bed this morning. When I rolled over to a clock that read 7:45 a.m. & realized now was the time to get up if I wanted to be showered, have Jett ready, fed & out the door by 8:45 for his 9:00 haircut, what I really felt like doing was pulling the covers over my head & cancelling the day, altogether. I even shot a text to my friend Amy {who cuts Jett's hair} asking for a later appointment. And then laid in bed a little longer battling internally back & forth with myself until I shot another text saying "I'm crazy. Changed my mind. I need to get my butt out of bed & start the day. We'll see you at 9." Thankfully, Amy loves my crazy, indecisive self.

You see, I've been trying a new schedule around here. For a little while now, I have been getting up before Jett does & getting showered & prepared for the day. I am one of those people that has to start my day off with clean hair & a fresh look or I just feel blah for the whole rest of the day. I am also one of those people who loooooves sleeping in. And here lately, Jett has been sleeping in sometimes until almost nine, which has been heaven for my tired self, but has wreaked havoc on my productivity. On the days that I snooze right along until I hear a little voice calling, "Mommy!" from across the hall, sure I wake up feeling well rested, but it seems like by that point, my day is shot. I look around at three o' clock in the afternoon to find myself still in my jammies & smack dab in the middle of a day that had absolutely no direction. I manage to piddle, to lollygag, to fill the day trying to get organized & by the end of it all, I barely have time to squeeze in a shower before Jared gets home & I'm rushing to get a hot meal on the table. I go to bed wondering where in the heck the hours went & then I wake up the next day & do it all over again.

This homegirl loves her beauty sleep, but it was high time something had to give. So I started forcing myself to get up earlier--to be more intentional with the time in my day. I'll admit, it's taken a little getting used to--come afternoon I'm dragging & feeling like I need a powernap. And gone are my night owl tendencies--this chick hits the sack early now. But what I'm enjoying about this new little switch in schedule is that I have time to get things accomplished--the grocery shopping, the meal preparing, even a little crafting here & there--it's all seems so much more doable now. And I have time for the really important things--like sitting down to play trains for an hour without having my mind a million other places. Or throwing on a pair of flip flops to drag every toy out of the garage for a two hour long afternoon recess with Meatball.

Or the simplest of things like saying to my little guy after his morning hair cut, "You know what? The days where it's just the two of us are dwindling down & I'm already missing the moments where our days are filled with only Mommy & Meatball moments. Let's go out for breakfast--just you & me, kid."

We sat for a good hour in Einstein, nibbling on bagels & chatting about music class, babies & boo-boos {he's got a skinned up elbow that happened earlier this week & my goodness is he ever so proud of that thing. He keeps his sleeve hiked up at all times so he can flash that Cars bandaid & tell the whole story to anyone he comes in contact with.} I let him choose our spot, even though the table was sprinkled in someone else's crumbs & wasn't nearly as comfy as the corner booth I had spotted when we walked in. I smiled as I watched him skip boldly up to every kid in the place, until he had a little entourage of new friends who were giggling & chasing one another & entertaining the entire breakfast crowd. And I observed as he showed off for the elderly group who smiled & chuckled at his every move. It was nice to be in the moment, to take it all in without any distractions or cares in the world. {We even ran into the man who gave Jett a dollar bill on his two year old birthday. Neither Jett nor the man remembered, but I could never forget such a sweet gesture or the sweet face behind that kind soul}.

I'm not guaranteeing that I'll keep this little switcheroo in our schedule forever or that one day soon I won't treat myself to an all out jammie day where I piddle & lollygag & squander the day away. But I do know that being deliberate with the hours in my day has been a breath of fresh air to me & my little boy. I do know that for now, I need more hours in the day. I need clean hair & a fresh look. I need more more Mommy & Meatball moments.