Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Five Minutes


My mom read a story to us when we were little called "Five Minutes Peace" about a mama elephant and her quest to find five minutes of peace from her three rambunctious children. She seeks out a quiet place to sit by herself for a few moments, but every room she enters, she is awaited by a new interruption. Finally she escapes to the bathroom with her cup of now-cold tea, and enjoys a few moments before re-entering the chaos that is her life.

This book has recently taken on new meaning for me.

Not that I have the craziness of a 3-child household, but sometimes I do feel like I can't escape from the constant demands of a stay-at-home-mom's life. Every room I enter holds another chore I have neglected. There are always dishes in the sink, laundry waiting to be folded, clothes strewn on the floor, toys scattered everywhere, and let's not even get started on the dust covering every surface. Of course, Sophia demands most of my attention (which is the best part of my day, don't get me wrong). I just feel like when Sophia is in the care of another, I should be working on the lists of neglected household tasks.

That's when I think about this book. Mama elephant's house was a disaster, but she knew the importance of taking five minutes to herself.

So when Gary comes down and wants to rock Sophia to sleep upstairs, I'm going to kick my feet up and enjoy the quiet pitter patter of the rain on the window and relax for a minute.

Ahhhh.

7 comments:

-V- said...

Wise mama... dear upstairs Grampa. Beautiful - thanks for sharing.

erin said...

Good girl. Thanks for the reminder. It's not the end of the world if the dishes wait til morning.



Right?

Naomi said...

Totally right.

-V- said...

Gosh, I hope it's not the end of the world; mine usually wait till the weekend... ;-)

Ariel said...

Good job, Naomi. This is even logical, after all-- it doesn't take that much longer to do a night's and morning's dishes than just a night's or just a morning's worth only... It's consolidation of efforts with the added benefit of sanity or something.

Cara said...

OMG, I can totally relate. I think that at this point, my quiet, peaceful time is when I am at work, because I already feel guilty for being gone SO MUCH. And that is NOT a peaceful situation. Thanks for your gentle reminder that I need to take time for myself. Maybe we could combine our quiet moments together, and grab a cup of decaf coffee and chat at Caribou??? I miss you.....

kristi said...

Sometimes I sneak into the tub and never want to come out!