For the past 18 months, it has felt as though my house has been in a nearly constant state of chaos. Although the kids were going to school four days a week by the end of the last school year, it feels like I’ve spent far too many work days trying to wrestle my kids into submission since the start of this pandemic.
But my kids are back at school now. Full time. Sure, all of these new variants we’ve got kicking around might mean this is a short-time affair, but at this exact moment my house is…quiet.
It is glorious.
Sure, it’s a ton harder to not decide to take a nap or three instead of getting work done, something I just spent the last ten minutes trying to justify, but the increase in my productivity from not having to run up the stairs to yell at everyone for yelling too much should make up for it.
So, I guess what I’m really trying to say here is that life is pretty awesome right now.
Look, I love my kids, and there’s definitely a certain bliss to be had with the sound of them outside my office all-too-ready to spend time with me. Having my youngest come in and cuddle me while I’m focused on a work project serves as being both an annoyance and a joy. But knowing that right now I have not only the opportunity to increase my productivity by an incredible amount because I don’t have to stop what I’m doing every few minutes to put out the latest (figurative) fire they’ve caused has put me into something of a happy place, while again, causing me to question how many naps are too many.
It’s not like I don’t deserve a nap. Now that school is back in session, I have to get up at 6AM to make sure they all can get out the door on time, as opposed to the devil-may-care attitude I’ve put towards morning alarms over the past 18 months.
Of course, who needs an alarm anyway when two out of the three of my kids already wake up at 6AM and turn on every single light in the house before letting me know that the sun started shining over the tree tops yet again.
I love my kids…
And, to be honest, I actually might already miss them being around a little bit…just a little.
Adam Oster: Unfocused Creative 