FIVE MINUTE FRIDAY: Relief

Welcome to Five Minute Friday!  This community was founded by Lisa-Jo Baker, who hosted the weekly link-up on her blog for four years before passing it on.

If you’re new here or haven’t participated before, here’s how it works:

Every Thursday a one-word prompt will be announced at www.katemotaung.com at 10pm EST (and continuing through Friday).

Those who’d like to participate in Five Minute Friday will write for five minutes on the topic of the week, post it on their own blog and link up the post here.
GO.  

The alarm is going off. Again. Time to get out of bed, for real. Time to round up the pajama-clad boys scattered about the house and dress them for school. Time to pack the lunches and make their breakfasts, always with an eye on the clock. Because at 8:42 that bus will pull up, and my 2nd grader needs to be on it. Then it will be round two of find the shoes and get your backpack and the daily fight over whether to wear a thin jacket or a warm winter coat and then down the stairs to drop off the kindergartner. If I make it before the tardy bell, I feel a sense of victory.

But that isn't it. There is still a wild, energetic, opinionated 3 year old in the backseat who wants to have fun, be entertained, see his favorite people. There are meetings and Bible study and appointments to get to. Always with the eye on the clock. Time to have fun, but a busy kind of fun. Time to play and be loud and listen and learn.

Relief comes when the clock nears noon. Time to sit and eat, time to lay down for a nap and read a story. Or two. Time to close the door and...silence. For the first time all day, my time is my own. I can read. I can watch. I can close my eyes and focus my breathing and RELAX. Never watching the clock. Only waiting for the tiny voice to resume, for the door to open, for the end of nap time and the pick-up run. Relief is short-lived these days.

STOP.