A Day in the Life

So for the most part, my life revolves around my children. That's not to say that I've given over my identity completely but any (good) parent knows that dates with "b.c." after them have nothing to do with the Big Guy upstairs. Instead, it' s the suffix given to the self you grew to know over the course of many years, did your best to become comfortable with, and then abandoned for the more complicated, layered version after children.

With this is mind, I've been trying to fill my kids' lives with wonderful summer memories while still making time for good 'ole moi. It's typically a give and take=I get to go work out at the gym if I take them to the pool afterward. I get a night out with friends if I stay off the computer and phone until noon the next day.

This bargaining is self imposed, largely to curtail any feelings of guilt. But the real driving force is a desire to give them a happy, well-adjusted childhood. Pinky swear.

Today's negotiation was a few shows for them on Nickelodeon in exchange for quiet time while I finished the book I've been enthralled with, Jennifer Lauck's Still Waters. Not quite the life-changer that its predecessor Blackbird, was, but fantastic nonetheless.

After reading this one-two punch of personal horror (and self-realization) my own worries seem paltry. Real and comfortably mine, but not so bad. So today, my life was really just about perspective.