When you have young children it seems you are either chasing after them or dragging them along behind you like a soggy beach towel. There is no in-between. It is very frustrating for someone who likes to be punctual, to have to wait in the car for their 3-year-old to do up their own seat belt (the alternative being dealing with a world war 3 tantrum – it’s your choice).
As your children grow older, you sign them up for after-school activities because “IT’S GOOD FOR YOU!!!!!”
Our life is quite full. Having a broad spectrum of children, whose ages range from 18 down to 7, there are times when I feel like I may as well live in the car…ha-ha very funny…until I walk outside the ballet waiting room to see a mum, asleep in her car, with her pillow and snuggled up in a doona… (GREAT IDEA! I am envious of her freedom to not care about people staring in at her while she sleeps!).
The number of hours I have spent beside the football field, the swimming pool, sitting in the ballet waiting room etc, is quite a lot (a shock to me when I think about it). A lot of mums do the “drop and run” which I totally get, and often do myself…places to go, things to do. However, sticking around waiting hasn’t been a waste of time, I have gotten to know some of the best women and built up the best friendships in all these places. I have realised there is gold in not rushing off to get something done. There is gold in the waiting room, beside the pool and the footy field when you stop, and simply wait.
