Earlier this week as I checked to see if it was time to pick Olivia up from school, it hit me: When school starts in the fall she will go until 2:10, and this stay-at-home Grammy will have my entire morning free. Every day, not just my Wednesday each month when I run away to Fresno for the day, but every Monday through Friday. There will be a first grader and a fifth grader in our house, and my schedule will undergo a drastic change.
Now for many women this is commonplace, but it has never happened to me before. As a mom with a job outside the home, I went back to work full-time when my daughter was five and a half weeks old. She was in day care until she started school, and in after-school day care after that (I have shared before how my decision to continue working after her birth is one of my very few regrets in life). So I didn’t experience this lengthening of my “free time” as she grew older.
I am kind of panicky about it. How will life’s expectations of me change, now that I have the entire morning to myself? More importantly, how will my own expectations of me change? Will I rush to “over-schedule” those empty hours (I tend to do that), or will I simply enjoy the peace and quiet? Will this be the time that I finally find a workable housekeeping routine (don’t hold your breath here)? Or will I grant myself the flexibility and freedom to extend my reading-in-the-garden time, or set up a permanent creating space in my bedroom?

It was a beautifully cloudy morning for my walk along the St. John’s River Parkway today.
Right now I am enjoying my early morning walks by the river after dropping the girls off at school. And I love that moment each day when I ask Olivia how her day went, and she answers with some variation on, “Awesome!”
I guess that time will simply come later each day. To be continued in the fall…
Hi! You may remember me and my blog (In the Bookcase) from a year ago. I’m hosting the Louisa May Alcott reading challenge again during June. I’d love it if you stopped by, or if you happen to be interested in joining the challenge again for 2016, that would be awesome. 🙂
Blessings!
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