Day 5: The Ordinary

I thought today might be the day I finally missed a post. I had a pretty good day overall, and not a terribly busy one. We even got a brief visit from a friend who dropped off a Christmas/Birthday present (awesome books!). But in most ways the day was ordinary. Ordinary work tasks. Ordinary before and after school time with my son. Ordinary chicken dinner. Ordinary bedtime routine. 

Pre-pandemic me hated days like this. I thought I needed to be busy. I thought I liked being busy. The latter was a lie I told to avoid fighting with myself about the former. There's nothing wrong with "the same old thing" if that thing is working for you. I underappreciated mine for a long time. I didn't take well to being forced to slow down, both by the pandemic and by my body. But as my husband and I struggled to manage working home and caring for a young child simultaneously, I learned to appreciate a routine. I finally learned how to relax properly in those ordinary moments. 

There is calm in the ordinary. Our son behaves better (usually) when he knows what to expect. I'm not stressed at work on higher pain or fatigue days because I'm comfortable with what I need to accomplish. I bake a chicken every other week because it's inexpensive, needs only 15 minutes of hands-on time, and I can usually get 3 meals out of it. My husband and I do yoga together nearly every evening after our son goes to sleep, allowing us to connect better to ourselves and with each other. Sometimes making choices is too much, and with a solid routine in place, I can safely let that stressor go.

My son gets really excited by the idea of new toys, but gets worn out quickly with too many choices. I'm no different. Newness is fun in small amounts, but it soon begins to overwhelm with its volume and disappoint with its brevity. My ordinary, routine days are like an old fuzzy teddy bear missing an eye but cherished and hugged nonetheless.