It was a Saturday morning.
I was woken up by the sounds of birds at the window and cats in need. I sleepwalked out to the living room to help our feline friend. I was about to shuffle myself back to bed when I realized that I was the only one in the house awake. An anomaly, to be sure. The older I get, the more being a morning person slips out of my reach, so I was not used to being up before anyone else. For whatever reason, I put on the tea kettle and when the whistle blew, made myself a nice cup of black tea. My favorite way to start the day and always my go-to before jumping into a pot of coffee over the next several hours. I plopped myself on the couch, looking out the front window at absolutely nothing going on in the neighborhood as I sipped my tea and savored the morning sun.
It doesn’t happen often in this phase of parenthood, having thoughts to yourself. I’m sure I’ll have plenty as the years go on, but right now they’re few and far between, wedged between the juggling of what needs to be done, who needs what, and just trying to keep the lives, responsibilities, concerns, schedules, and hopefully somewhere in there, some enjoyment, of five human beings every moment of every day.
In those fleeting moments, I watched the golden light of the sun pour over a neighborhood not quite ready to come to life. The absence of any human activity laid the focus on the squirrels running across the grass of the front yard, chasing each other up the trunk and through the branches of the trees, flowing in a very gentle breeze. And in those moments, my brain did something I honestly should force it to do more often – nothing. No planning out lists, no compulsive need to be productive and “make the most of the time.” No. I just sat there and watched the world go by. And I felt really really good about it.
It lasted just under ten minutes before our youngest woke up and attention shifted elsewhere, but in those ten minutes, it was nice.
The Dorky Daddy 