A Little Bit of Lazy Does a Baby Good

And so we come to a time of halt. Where there is nowhere to go and nothing to do but face the daily mundane with pure relish. A million disclaimers aside (which collectively reveal my extreme privilege in a time of unprecedented uncertainty – I know my house will still be mine tomorrow, and I know the paycheck will come at the end of at least this month), I am suddenly left with the delicious treat of time.

But, equally, I can no longer hide behind the badge of being busy as an excuse, as an explanation or even as a part of self-identity. In this time of new threats, new restrictions and new paradigms, I am forced to reexamine who I am beneath the usual bout of activities that I do. And here’s what I’m learning in this place within the quiet.

I like having JD all to myself. It was a phenomenon that only appeared once before when we lived in rural Washington while I was pregnant. Suddenly my former socialite husband, who started not one but two soccer leagues, an annual golf tournament, a weekly poker game, and a successful business, was mine, all mine. Bruahhaha! Evil witch wife laugh!

I like having my mom around. There, I said it. You up-and-coming generation of homeschoolers will surely understand. But jokes aside, I feel we’re still catching up after a decade apart and I love it.

And then there’s Julia. Fortunately, she’s too young to mind missing the social activities we overeagerly threw her into, and at an age where “school’s out” just means we don’t wave hi to the big yellow bus each morning. In all this, she’s doing more than fine. My little honey is flourishing. It seems that slower suits her well, and a little bit of lazy does my baby good.

She’s alright with hanging tight at the crib – quite literally her crib. She’s ok with a pink pajama day. She’s just fine with Mama’s lame old silly rhymes.

Her favorite people are right there. And there are finger paints to be had, marshmallows to be negotiated over, books to be read, read, re-read and then read upside down backwards. Her home is truly her castle and she’s in no rush to lower the drawbridge. Her social self-sufficiency is absolute inspiration to me, an extrovert in a former life.

I find myself enjoying Fridays (and Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays and the rest) at home where a bluer scooter me would’ve been dying for a bit of social. I am truly content; happy where I am, who I’m with, and with what I’m (not) doing.

Take all this with a grain of eye roll salt because even I recognize the larger problems of current Coronavirus events. And there are things that even I miss. I miss seeing the rest of my family. I miss my friends. But, now that I have reiterated those necessary disclaimers, I will continue to express my own personal opinion in my own personal blog which exactly 3.6 people actually read. Thank you for the illusion of an audience, Interweb.

For me, there is an element of enjoyment in being tucked right into my home, and stripped down to the daily delights of just being here, being with my family and being unapologetically un-busy.