Puddles and Peanut Butter

A page from any given Mommy appointment book would likely appear to others as a multitude of unending tasks with too little time to do everything. There are activities for the children like preschool and soccer, and a few activities for herself. But my appointment book doesn’t include the other things I’m responsible for, like cleaning, cooking, shopping, bills and laundry. No wonder I feel frazzled!
My son’s day reads much differently. He spends his time playing, experiencing, exploring and testing. He doesn’t have any concept of time except when he’s bored or hungry. He doesn’t need to be constantly busy. He doesn’t have a list to check off. His perfect day is filled with his bike, the park, Spiderman, ravioli and not napping.
I often get impatient with my son because he just doesn’t seem to understand that we’re on a schedule. But, one day I stopped and watched my son play in a puddle. Maybe he wasn’t the problem. Maybe my schedule was.
His laugh was contagious as he tromped in a puddle; for that moment all he wanted to do was have fun. It didn’t matter to him if we were late or didn’t accomplish everything on our list. He just wanted to enjoy the moment.
Later that day he ate a few bites of his peanut butter sandwich, and proceeded to make balls out of it. Again, the look of accomplishment and his intense desire to make the perfect sandwich ball was enough to squelch the words, "Stop! You’re making a mess!"
Sometimes we need to let puddles and peanut butter get in the way of our orderly, scheduled lives. We need to let our kids be kids and not fall in line with our plans. We should schedule in more time or realize that messes and delays happen.