Slip 'n Slide.....

Yes, we dug it out attached the hose and before you know it most of the neighborhood kids were over playing. It sometimes amazes me that a hose, and a sheet of slippery plastic can amuse small children for hours. So much laughing, slipping, falling, sliding backwards and pure fun. That's what a summer should be. I remember when I was their age and the summer days seemed 48 hours long. We were outside right after breakfast, had to be called in for lunch, road everywhere on our bikes, climbed up into the big fort and had to be dragged in for dinner and bedtime. One thing I do differently is let my children play until it's time to come in and then I feed them. I remember about three years ago over the fourth of July when my oldest brother remarked that holidays just didn't seem special. I said, "That's because you have to be a child to enjoy them, you look forward to them, they fill your days with celebration and they seem to last forever." We need to be more like children. Most of my adult life I've been preoccupied with the chores at hand. I get into this mentality that I can't have fun or I won't accomplish what needs to be done. I'm trying to catch this defect in myself and switch the behavior before it starts. When my children ask to do something and I'm ready to say "no" in a split second, I try to remember life from their point of view, and I generally say "yes". Life is simple at 7 and 9. Your life has some structure like school, homework, bedtime but for the most part it gets to unfold the way it should naturally. All too soon that gets set aside and more structure, more demands, more schedules creep into that life and before you know it you are an adult and all the sweet long sunny days of summer are a distant memory. I think back to where I was a year ago, so stressed out, stretched so thin, trying to keep up with this happy facade I had created so no one would guess how miserable I was. I was short, crabby with my kids, my husband and I were barely speaking. In otherwords I was just a unit going through the motions of life while being fueled by alcohol. Empty and just plain worn out. Today I am more adept to look at things from a different perspective. You don't need to take a drink to survive the busy time, the confusing times, the times you feel lost. You need to open up that box, dig out your tools for living and get down to work. I've heard more people at meetings lately say they are struggling with life on life's terms. Painful, sad stories. Yet life is just like that slip 'n slide. One minute you are up and running, and the next your flat on your stomach hurling to god knows what. But as I watched my children and their friends last night I realized they had the solution...when you fall down and get a face full of water and you come to a stop you simply need to get up and start running again. Looking at life through a child's eyes is something I need to do on a regular basis.........