This weekend, I came to fully understand why steroids are illegal in sports. My husband was down with the plague this weekend, so it was me and the toddler…and steroids. After spending about the last six weekends out of the house, the whole goal this weekend was to NOT leave, including groceries being picked up on Friday night. The goal was met until Sunday afternoon when I realized that we had not a box and a half a sleeve of diapers, but only a half a sleeve. After the toddler went down, I went to the local neighborhood Wal Mart (as opposed to a supercenter), picked up diapers and cold meds, and returned home. I may have been gone 20 minutes.
Sunday, all laundry was washed and dried. Minus what we wore as a family yesterday, every stitch of laundry in my house is clean and dry. Now, it isn’t put up, but I am one person who was chasing a toddler all by myself. This weekend, I made beef stew with barley on Saturday, some French toast breakfast casserole for breakfast Sunday, chicken and sausage gumbo for dinner, and sugar cookies with a homemade buttercream frosting. Meanwhile, I proceeded to clean my house from top to bottom, minus laundry. I washed doors. I scrubbed floors. I vacuumed, twice. I cleaned out the refrigerator of last week’s leftovers. I shampooed carpets. Mind you, all of this is while having a very busy two year old in tow, who wanted to be played with a lot of the time. My house is spotless (minus giant pile of laundry in the guest bedroom). Spotless. Now, today, he’s at home with my mom, so by 5:00 my house will look like toddler hell again, but so be it.
At about 7:00, I had to actually tell myself to start calming down. The wheels of steroids were spinning so fast, time felt slow. I fully dosed up on melatonin, hoping to calm the business of my mind and body. Sleep was restless. Plus, the husband left the bed at 1:00, unable to sleep, and moved to the couch.
Today, I took my last dose of steroids. Time is moving painfully slow. I’ve answered emails, made the husband a doctor’s appointment, checked in with Mr. ENFP, twice, worked on one boss’s getting out of jury duty (he has strep throat), assisted a temporarily handicapped second boss, read the highlights of the NY Times, and checked Facebook. It’s 9:30 a.m. I have never looked so forward to slowing down in my life.
But, with the slowing down of this weekend, it brought a new perspective into view. Obviously, I can’t stay home all weekend every weekend. It’s just not feasible. But, in my steroid race, I found myself enjoying my toddler, playing with him, and having fun doing so. I didn’t felt rushed, and he felt loved. Also, without a full calendar, I didn’t feel as if playing with him, or not playing with him at a moment, that I was sacrificing one for the other. The day just flowed. It was blissful. It didn’t matter that I didn’t shower until noon, after he went down for a nap. I got all that I wanted to do done, all that needed to be done, done, and had time to actually enjoy the moment. Despite having a sick husband, we had quality time together. We were all at peace as a family, and enjoyed being around each other. So, while we can’t relive this weekend every weekend, maybe a goal of once a month is in order. Sometimes you have to slow down, savor the day, and play with the toddler.
The INTJ Female 