May By The Calendar
The “morning meeting” was a daily occurrence at C’s daycare. I really wanted to keep that part of his routine when we pulled him home, so I unrolled my craft paper and drew out an uneven calendar grid for March. And then one for April. And then one for May.
Somedays Cam is into it. Other days we move through it quickly, him singing the days of the week song and reporting on the weather while hurrying on to other toys. And sometimes he has no interest in it at all.
It took me a while--half of March..and all of April...and the start of May--to not take his inconsistent interest as a parenting fail. But isn’t his reaction just so true to how we’re all feeling right now?
Some days feel good and it’s fun to celebrate that. Some days are really, really hard and it feels better to lash out on the lack of normalcy entirely. And some days, many days actually, just seem to pass without realizing it. Nothing special to see. Undocumented by a scribble or doodle.
And some people (like maybe Cam’s mom?) want the normal so badly it takes an embarrassing stupid amount of time to recognize easing up doesn’t mean giving up. After all, now there’s more morning time for new toys and games, and that can be beautiful too if I let it be.
Unlike April’s calendar which I’m ashamed to admit included a lot of ridiculous mom-only participation, May is shaping up to look more accurate--in fact it appears to include a few future days of scribbles already worth looking forward to.
Somedays Cam is into it. Other days we move through it quickly, him singing the days of the week song and reporting on the weather while hurrying on to other toys. And sometimes he has no interest in it at all.
It took me a while--half of March..and all of April...and the start of May--to not take his inconsistent interest as a parenting fail. But isn’t his reaction just so true to how we’re all feeling right now?
Some days feel good and it’s fun to celebrate that. Some days are really, really hard and it feels better to lash out on the lack of normalcy entirely. And some days, many days actually, just seem to pass without realizing it. Nothing special to see. Undocumented by a scribble or doodle.
And some people (like maybe Cam’s mom?) want the normal so badly it takes an embarrassing stupid amount of time to recognize easing up doesn’t mean giving up. After all, now there’s more morning time for new toys and games, and that can be beautiful too if I let it be.
Unlike April’s calendar which I’m ashamed to admit included a lot of ridiculous mom-only participation, May is shaping up to look more accurate--in fact it appears to include a few future days of scribbles already worth looking forward to.
