Tag Archives: #pause

Don’t Rush the Seasons

I did something completely out of character. I made a purchase even though it’s not quite time to use it. Of course, I could go ahead and use it, but there’s a peculiar sweetness in the anticipation of holding off until the right time.

Twice a year I go in search of a wreath for the front door. Spring/summer and Christmas. Sometimes I use the same wreath the following year, but most times I’ll give it away once the season ends. It’s still Winter here in Texas, and it’s been relatively mild as I see fellow Texans itching for Spring, but I really want to wait for it to arrive instead of rushing toward it. A friend of mine has already hung a Springtime wreath on her front door and she’s been working in her yard.

From previous experience, I don’t trust buying wreaths online. The photos look amazing, but once the wreath arrives I’m disappointed in the lack of quality. The other day I was at Target, strolling through the Magnolia section of the store and didn’t really have a wreath on my mind, but there it was sitting on the bottom shelf as if it were waiting to be noticed. There was no hesitation in stepping over to take a closer look and knowing instantly that was the wreath for this year.

I’m excited! Once home I thought about going ahead and hanging it on the front door, like my friend, but my heart pressed the pause button. It’s only January, and February can be an unpredictable month for weather, so I vowed to wait to enjoy it Spring through Summer. It came in a sturdy box with a lid, so I closed it up to wait. Every time I see that box, it brings a smile to my face like I’m ready for the next season, but for now will slow the pace to embrace this season we’re in.

Take a break from reading and let me read this to you:

To Be Used

I’ve been doing some cleaning and organizing of the home. Still looking at each item and asking if it supports the life I’m trying to create, mentioned in this post here.

Yesterday I tackled the top of the Armoire. There was a large tray sitting up there along with a few other things that needed to find their place, or go. I knew this tray would stay, but it hasn’t been used since my daughter moved out to be on her own. It was purchased decades ago to be used atop an ottoman which in translation means, it was just for looks. It’s handmade and I’m sure since it came from my previous married life, it cost a small fortune.

My daughter and I made a deal while packing up to leave my marriage. Every item we take is to be used. I recall taking that ottoman with us because it was also handmade and the top opened for the inside to be used for storage. The tray came along with the ottoman, but we didn’t use the tray very much until we moved here. We would watch a show, or movie sitting in the middle of my bed and the tray became a picnic platform for holding our meal.

We had many picnics from that tray and it adds value to our life, but it needed to be used.

I sat it in the middle of the massive wood table and added some of my favorite things. Things that are eye pleasing, but also used throughout my day. If this tray could talk it would tell you it was bought because it’s pretty. It’s been moved around a lot but it’s favorite part of life was picnics. Sitting here this morning it looks happy once again to be used.

Teach Them Kindness

My daughter’s Jeep got hit, but it can take it.

She was pulling into a parking lot with a car in front of us. There was plenty of parking, but the car in front decided to park at the same time as my daughter. They pulled into a space side by side. The stranger’s passenger door flung open before either car was fully parked.

It was a child in a hurry to exit.

Her car door hit my daughter’s Jeep.

My daughter was angry, but not because the Jeep was hit. It was because the little girl was in a hurry. This could have been more than a scratch.

The little girls face showed remorse and terror as soon as it happened, but the mother was a different story all together. She was prepared with anger, but I diffused with kindness.

“I didn’t even see you”, she said.

Were we hidden from view?

She had a car full of girls. Life is distracting.

It was an accident, but “I’m sorry”, was left unsaid.

This is what hurt my daughter the most.

The little girl thought we’d be mad, not sad.

The Jeep was made for this, but not the hearts.

Practicing+kindness+and+volunteering+as+a+family+teaches+our+children+so+much+about+the+world_

Make it Beautiful

When I walked into the house, she rapidly announced, “I made a mess.” I just looked at her, smiled, and followed her gaze to the hallway floor. It was covered in chalk.

blue red and yellow chalk

Photo by Viktoria Goda on Pexels.com

We have a large adhesive chalkboard on the pantry door. We use it to write down our schedules for one another. My daughter reached up to retrieve the box of chalk from above the pantry door, and it fell out of her hand crashing onto the tile floor. Tile is obviously more solid than chalk.

It was an accident. Pause Mama’s. Place a hold on your immediate reaction and wait for a response.

Some of our most magical moments began as a minor disaster.

Stepping over the mess, I walked into the bathroom. After washing my hands, I noticed one piece of chalk laying right inside the doorway. Squatting down, I grabbed the chalk, and wrote a note on the tile.

My daughter loved it and followed suit.

She wrote a note on the tile in the hallway.

My daughter could have cleaned up the mess before I returned home. She didn’t because she knew we would make something fun out of it, and was waiting to see my thoughts. When she moves on with her life, and has children of her own, I imagine her home with tile floors.

She will probably skip the chalk altogether, and allow her children to finger-paint the tile floor. She will teach them that an accident is really a beautiful mess in disguise.

When life gets messy. Make it beautiful.