Slow Living

Checking out a turtle

At one time, I was racing madcap through life.  Go! Go! Go! Must have this.  Must buy that.  I can't wait until tomorrow... next month... next year... and this will be better and that will be better.  The first sign that it was out of control was when I was in the middle of a separation and realized I had 5 figures of credit card debt.   The second sign was that I was in my 30s and still trying to figure out what made me happy.  That is, I guess, I knew what kind of life would make me happy and I was trying to buy my way there.

Start Life 2.0.  Between my accountant dad and  Will, I had two people in my life who had excellent debt management skills, and he helped me figure out how I was going to avoid bankruptcy and pay off my bills on my own.  I took freelance jobs editing and creating marketing materials and paid off all of my credit cards in less than two years.  It's one of my proudest moments:  not racking up the debt, but finally paying it off.  On my own.

Now that I have a little person in my life, I have slowed down a lot more.  In fact, I had a unique opportunity to really pay attention to the rich slowness last Thursday and Friday, when my nanny had the flu.  We don't have a backup nanny or sitters who would be available all day, so Will and I split up the time between working and playing with T, and I worked while he napped as well.   I had time to play... and listen to my son talk... and sit on the floor and play with his trucks and do whatever he wanted to do.

I also had a chance to have some coveted mom time at T's teacher-led playgroup Gorgeous Millie.  Usually, Brittney gets to attend with him three times a week, and they have music, and art, and stories, and lots of playtime.  The moms and nannies hang out together and talk about the latest challenge, or joy, or share funny stories with each other and just be with the children.  It was the best part of my week to be able to enjoy that with T, and I'm thankful that Gorgeous Millie is right behind our house and T and Brittney can walk there.  I wasn't ready to put T in a drop-off program, and this was a happy medium until he's ready (and I'm ready) for preschool.  Another factor of Slow Living: I'm not in a hurry for T to grow out of diaperhood, or to stop wanting to give me kisses and snuggle during the night, or even move out of his crib into a toddler bed.

I want to slow down and hear "Yuv yew Mama" [Love you] and "Icken" [chicken] for as long as time will allow.  I will enjoy the game of "where's Mama's nose... eyes... ears" every night before bedtime and reading the same book over and over and over as T memorizes it. 

Slow Living is part of who I am, now.  The faster time flies by, the more I want to slow it down.

T's (and my) happy place: Gorgeous Millie

I’m sharing my post with Momma Made It Look Easy!