Sometimes, I get really sick of pottage.
You know the story, right? Esau comes in, exhausted and hungry after working all day. His brother Jacob has a bowl of pottage and Esau demands it from him. Jacob decides to make a trade. You want this bowl of pottage? he says to his brother. It will only cost you your birthright.
And the thing is...Esau makes the deal. Nuts. He gives away his claim to the wealth, lands, and blessings that are his by virtue of being born first, and he trades it for gruel.
Sometimes I feel like Esau if I've frittered away something important. Yesterday, it was my time. My mother-in-law asked to borrow the baby for a play date and then said she was keeping him all day. Whoo hoo! Grocery shopping without having to sing silly songs to Baby G while trolling the food aisles for bargains? Bonus! Making myself a snack without a baby attached to my ankle and demanding the crumbs? Bonus! The opportunity to write without timing it around his nap? Extra bonus!
And yet.
Only the grocery shopping happened. I don't know where everything else went. How did I get less done, even though I was gone from home longer, when I didn't even have a baby on my hip? When my mother-in-law gifted me with six child-free hours?
And why am I eating this pottage?
P.S. You should read this book. It has snowball fights.
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17 comments:
Yeah, pottage is very bleh and disappointing. Especially when you didn't even ask for it, you just accidentally took it. Oops.
I know the feeling so well! I'm not sure where the time goes - but I can attest to the fact that it does.
I totally do that! For me I think it's that I get away from my kids so rarely that I don't want to do something "work like" even though, as you mentioned, it's so much easier with out the kids around, but I have too much guilt over the work that needs to be done that I'm not doing to really enjoy slacking. So I do nothing at all.
Oh, I hate it when I do that! It's like I'm running on a treadmill and someone says, 'here take a break' so instead of getting a drink or even going into another room I just kinda stand there till it's my turn to get back on. Frustrates the bjeebies out of me. But at least you got the grocery shopping done :-)
I know exactly what you mean. Whenever I have a decent block of time to myself, I always have such grandiose plans and intentions. But at the end of the day, I'm left with these lingering feelings of disappointment. I think it's because I put too much pressure on the day. I have such high expectations that it wouldn't matter what I did, it would never be good enough. Logically I know that it won't be the last day off I'll ever have...but still...
Stupid pottage gets me every time.
Phew... I thought it was just me...
P.S. I am really enjoying everyones' promotion of Annette's book. I am sooo going to buy it. Now that I know it has a snowball fight.
But it's your prerogative as to what to do with your time. My wife tends to feel guilty whenever she knows she didn't do all she wanted to. I have to remind her that it's quality time not quantity time.
That always happens to me to when gifted with a teeny bit of freedom. (Oh, it's over already? How'd that happen?)
I have nothing relative to say, but I want you to know... I read this very late last night, and had "peas pooridge hot, peas pooridge cold" running through my head for an hour afterward.
THANKS FOR THAT.
;>
Uh, that should be relevant. I have nothing relevant to say.
I have nothing relative to say either.
I'm so tired. Help.
Wow. Absolutely love the parallel you've drawn here.
Awesome! I love snowball fights!
I've so been there. You must have really needed some super duper down time.
You've just had a sampling of what it will be like when your youngest goes to school all day. Time really is slippery, and you honestly do have to make an effort to stay motivated and productive when all the kids are out of the house. I never would have believed that I was MORE organized and productive with a houseful of little ones than I was when they were gone every day, but I was.
However, upon realizing that, it was during that time that I wrote my first book. So once you get the hang of it, you'll come to treasure that quiet time - and make good use of it, too!
Times like that I know exactly how much my kiddos keep me on my toes; been there! On the bright side, yea MIL for a 6 hour break, lol. I tagged you on my blog.
Blessings, Carolynn
Oh too true. I just hope you at least enjoyed the leisure.
U, I'm afraid that you've now got me thinking deeply. I'm now going to stop reading all the rest of your posts that I've missed and go do something constructive.
Or not.
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