Thursday, March 14, 2013

Hermit Mom

My family about the time I met Shannon.  I was not being a hermit here. 
We were visiting Grandma and Grandpa Heelis.
Gotta love the white socks with sandals!

I told my friend Shannon the other day that I thought I might have become a hermit mom without her.  She laughed, but I'm not really convinced it's not true.

Those who know me well know that I love to follow a schedule, and I liked my kids to follow one too.  I also have a hard time getting myself motivated to do things that may require more energy than I am used to expending.  Combine those things with the fact that I prefer having another adult around, I was a little paranoid about losing my little girls, I had a tendency to expect perfect behavior, and I felt going out required lots of stuff, and you come up with a recipe for me to just decide staying home was easier.

Now, I occasionally went out.  I had to get groceries.  I had my girls trained to stay by my side.  I think they were sure they'd be kidnapped if they weren't within arms length.  But days often got long, and we would get grumpy, and Shannon knew a trick that she shared with me (by example).  The trick on long, grumpy days, is to break with routine.  Do something different.  And it surely helps to have a friend.

Shannon and I had lunches outside, and in each others houses.  We went to restaurants with play lands.  We went shopping with all of our children combined, and my children discovered that you could run up and down aisles and not be kidnapped by anyone.  Our kids took turns playing at each others houses, and Shannon and I had a chat every day.  Times were good.

Unfortunately, eventually we moved and Shannon wasn't over the back fence anymore, but the lesson about breaking the routine has been a helpful one.  It has been harder for me to do it without Shannon nearby.  I still have a tendency to want to keep to a schedule, and not do anything requiring extra energy.  I'm not so paranoid about my kids anymore, and I don't need a diaper bag, but I still wish for the handy friend calling to see if I want to do something!  Still, I do know that if the day is long, and grumpy, I'd better think up something different to do, and get busy doing it.  It makes life happier, and keeps me from really being a hermit mom.

2 comments:

Happy Mom said...

I was much more adventurous when I was young. Now I feel like I'm turning into a major hermit. It's sad. Thanks for sharing. The break up the routine thing...that's a good idea.

Mike said...

I used to be real bad about doing anything at a certain time.I was and still do it to a point clock watching.Now days the only time I really worry about is bedtime.