Winding Down

After crossing the T and dotting the I’s on the Victoria Day long weekend, I feel a little like a slowly fading wind-up music box.

It’s nice outside. The house is in serious need of some reorganization. Everyone just wants to play. I’m done with science experiments and whining and trying to reinforce a routine that no one is feeling anymore.

Not to mention, the injustices the world is facing feel heavy and my time would probably be better spent reading, better informing myself and figuring out how our family is going to better address them than trying to motivate someone to complete a math sheet.

We are ready for a new season.

Thinking back to my years as a student and as a teacher, spring has always been a season both of winding down and of anticipation. School is winding down. Summer is coming.

This year feels different. The anticipation isn’t quite the same.

There’s nothing on the calendar to look forward to this year.

We won’t be jumping from one kind of busy into another.

But while summer this year won’t look so much like trip planning and splash pads and grandparent visiting and playing with the neighborhood until it’s way past time to come inside, we’ll find a way to make it count.

And, in the process, I’m wondering if we’ll find something meaningful in the reality that trading one kind of busy for another isn't an option this year.

Maybe we’ll eat popsicles and read a little. Maybe we’ll watch our garden grow. Maybe we’ll truly slow down.