In the Tree House: Aging with Dignity and a Lot less Sleep
By: Samantha S. Daviss
As we get older, we all start to realize that some of the funny stories we heard as kids from our parents, are starting to come to fruition. Call it wisdom, laziness or just pure exhaustion…there are a few short cuts you take in life to keep you going, or to make life a little easier on you.
Especially after this week, you are going to be extremely exhausted; what with friends and family coming and going all week through your house, it will feel like you have a revolving front door. We realize we are blessed to be surrounded by so many friends and family over this holiday season, but nonetheless, we are still tired.
What made me think about this was just the other day I saw a “spoof ad” that had soft floor mops on the arms and knees of a baby’s pajama outfit, so as it crawled around the house it could buff the floors. At first I thought, “How awful”, then I started thinking it was pretty brilliant; definitely killing two birds with one stone.
Whether you want to admit to some of these idiosyncrasies or not, you know they are true, and you know you have done at least one or two of them in your lifetime, or at least thought about doing them.
1. You restart the dryer because you don’t want to fold the clothes at that moment, so you figure you can dry them once more to make sure all the wrinkles are out.
2. You make a toast to yourself, for those 12 minutes, all the laundry is finished in your household.
3. You restart the dishwasher, because…”OOPS, there’s a spot on a glass”, when in reality you just don’t feel like unloading it, and maybe someone else in the house will do it once the second run is complete.
4. You know you put comfort and age before style and beauty when you are all geared up to go out for a night on the town, and the finishing touch to your outfit is to make sure your Dr. Scholl’s gels are in the bottom of your heels.
5. Leaving the leaves in your yard just an extra day or two, since you don’t want to rake them up; but all the while thinking “Hmmmm, it just makes my yard look a little more festive for the holidays.” When truthfully, you’re just too lazy.
6. Crawling into bed after a long hard day in your comfy clothes, just to be ready to spring out of bed in the morning to get the kids ready for school—to avoid that painful process of getting ready in the morning for a school run.
7. Putting your workout clothes on in the morning rather than regular clothes, even though you have absolutely no intention of working out, but you just want to be comfy that day, and maybe let folks think you worked out.
8. Getting your clean clothes out of the laundry room to wear rather than taking the time to put them away in your closet. Same difference, they are clean and ready to wear, just not put away.
9. Thinking to yourself, alone, late at night on the couch… “If one glass of wine is good for my heart, imagine how great an entire bottle is”.
Because the anxiety of “Go Time” perpetually builds daily, regardless of how many lists you make or how “prepared” you think you are for that afternoon’s activities…you are never ready for four o’clock hitting, in anticipation of the 5pm frenzy, cooking dinner while you use various body parts to simultaneously stir the pasta sauce, help your 8 year-old with his homework and keep your toddler from practicing his party trick of spinning the plates he filched from the dishwasher earlier while you chop the garlic.
The thing I always remind myself…is it will all be over in the blink of an eye. So for those who say they have lost themselves in their children and don’t know who they are any more as people…you haven’t lost yourself, you’ve just evolved into motherhood. That’s who and what you are now…a mommy. And pretty soon, your house will (sadly) be quiet, empty and all those years of picking up toys and dirt off the floor are gone. Now it’s just you, your spouse, and an immaculate house.
My philosophy since I became a mother is “Don’t sweat the small stuff”, I actually relish in the fact that at the end of the day my house is covered in toy guns, hot wheels, and puzzle pieces…means it was a great day in our house!
