Slowing Down {Thoughts}

This month has been a rough one for me. I've somehow managed to get strep throat twice. The kids- perfectly healthy. Not so much for me. How does that even happen? This last one thankfully waited until right after thanksgiving- but it still knocked me out pretty good. 

Sickness seems to have a way of forcing you to stop the flurry of activities involved in day to day life. 

 As I stopped to let me body recover I realized that maybe all my fluttering wasn't really that necessary anyway. My husband picked up a lot of what I couldn't get done. My kids were content sitting on the couch and reading for hours. I rested yet still managed to make dinner and be a mom and get some knitting done.

 We had our moments...like the time(s) I yelled at my toddler because she was simply bugging me (good parenting, I know.) And the afternoon I read my book and let them jump off the couch onto the hardwood floor. Ignoring the fact that there was a good chance we would end up in the ER. And the extra movies they got to watch. Lots of extra movies.

I was reminded this weekend that it's ok to slow down. It's ok to just sit on the couch at one in the afternoon with a cup of tea. I realized that many times my own frenzy isn't really a productive or effective frenzy. It's just frenzy.

As I slowed down, the kids slowed down. As I rested, my husband worked on his own projects. As I went to work on the dishes, they came over to join me in drying. They found their own clothes in the piles of laundry and ate the snacks in the cupboards. 

And they all showed me how much they love me. And I feel... well... grateful. And thankful. And blessed. 

Thankful for my wonderful family. Thankful for being forced to slow down. Thankful for illness. 

Because without it I would probably still be running around in a needless frenzy. I would be forgetting that being able to sit and read books to my kids is a blessing.

I am looking forward to December this year. Looking forward to the slowness. To saying no to extra activities. Looking forward to spending time in housework and preparing for the long winter that is coming.  I'm so very excited to see family on the other side of the country. I hope that this season doesn't pass by too quickly for you (and that you don't need to get sick to realize it)

-Lauren