To Do: Play with kids

It was one of those mornings. I crawled out of bed a good two hours later than my normal up-and-at-'em time. "Really," I thought, "I will be so glad when the NBA finals are over. I can't stand these late nights!"

As I pulled on clothes and went out to start breakfast, I went through my mental list:

"Since I got up so late, I'm going to have to fit in a workout this afternoon. I hate it when I oversleep - just really gets me behind the rest of the day. Oh, and I need to go to Sam's and get more page protectors to put the new unit of Tapestry of Grace in - can't believe I ran out last night! We've got to get the house clean before the Schneiders get here. That means I'll also need to change the sheets on Brynna and Hailey's beds after they get up from nap, and move in the other beds for the other kids. I'll need to have Brynna and Hailey get their stuff out of that room and bathroom too. I need to make bread today for Kelly. What are we going to have for dinner tonight? Need to look at the menu and see what we aren't having when the Schneiders are here. I need to get the rest of the Tapestry unit in the protectors sometime and see if I can't work on some school planning - I'm way behind if I want to start in July. Will I have time to do any baking today, besides the bread? Probably not. But I really need to water the grass today - I know I'll forget while company is here. Oh, and we have several loads of laundry to get done today so we won't have so much the next few days. Hope the girls remember to bring their clothes down this morning."

You see, I have a couple of faults. I tend to let things get to me, and get stressed when I have a long list like this to do. And when I get like this, I become something out of a Marvel comic book: I transform from me to - da ta da da! - Sargent Mom! So after breakfast the orders started flying out of my mouth. "Kora, go upstairs and start vacuuming; Aubrey while she's doing that, you go clean the bathroom and then you do your vacuuming when she gets done. Brynna, grab the rag..." Well, you get the picture. While my girls are such a big help to me, and I don't know what I would do without them, sometimes they look at me when I get like this, and I can almost see their heads spinning.

Just when my girls thought they were getting a break after about an hour solid of cleaning, I announced that no, you may not play, we have to go to Sam's! And not only that, you WILL be on your best behavior.

As I was driving home, with rather limp girls in the suburban behind me, it struck me somehow that I was being a tad bit loco this morning. The girls had been working hard for weeks, and we hadn't done anything especially fun or different since we got back from our trip. After all, I had thought, we'll do all sorts of fun things once the Schneiders got here. But all of a sudden, I realized how I was letting my to do list run my family. Sure I had stuff that needed to get done, but I didn't have to be a stick in the mud about it.

So I decided to do something we hadn't done in a long time. We had a picnic for lunch.

And not only that, I got them pizza - something we hadn't done in months - and a soda and we took them out to our back porch and ate on our new patio set. We sat in the shade and enjoyed each other, without an agenda or a rush to finish a task. The girls were so excited and acted like they had been accorded a first rate treat.

And you know what? I was much calmer the rest of the day. Sure I was busy. But somehow the urgency and stress had died down. I didn't have this frantic need to check off my mental list. I think that, especially during the cooler months of the year, I need to do this with the girls - maybe not always getting pizza - much more often. I let my to do list rule my life way too much. And when I do take breaks, they are usually away from the kids. But today it struck me that sometimes a break with them can be just as good. And maybe, just maybe, something like a regular picnic with my precious girls will remind me of what's really important.