My dad delivered mail for 30 years, and during the long hot Georgia summers, he would come home and immediately take a dip in our swimmig pool. He would say, “it gets the first layer off.”
Lately that phrase has been coming to my mind after several days of work where I haven’t had time to spend a full morning with my son. It usually seems to take a day or at least a few hours to relax, reconnect, and re-establish that rhythmic, harmonic feeling. This time can feel distressing, like I’ve lost something, but then I think, “it’s like we are getting the first layer off.”
I wonder how many parents ever get past that first layer, when the weekday never ends until 6:30, and weekends are filled with karate, soccer, and trips to Target.
Grateful I am for the number of peaceful mornings we have spent co-existing in our home and connecting with each other and with the creative parts of ourselves. Somehow I feel if I can cultivate that gentle feeling at least a morning or two a week, then we will have a much better time living together the rest of his growing up years.
Homemade Extraordinary 