Countdown

 

We have many countdowns going on in my household these days...


9 days until Camp Calumet

27 until Zachary's birthday

30 days until the Summer Kids' Birthday Party

There are days when Mama has her own countdowns...

# hours until bedtime

# days until I get some time to myself

# of years until all the children are out of the house and none of these Mama countdowns are necessary. 

It's not that I don't treasure my time with my kids. I do. They are lovely creatures. Lovely creatures from whom I need a break every once in a while. Daily even. 

I am a Mama who occasionally craves solitude in a houseful of rannygahoots. Sometimes I seek Sanctuary by locking myself in the bathroom. A perfect plan, if it weren't for the fact that seven of us live here and there is only one bathroom. Other times, I create a few quiet moments of prayer and meditation after sending the kids to bed and before telling them to go back to bed - or on good nights, in between my kids going to sleep and my husband getting home from work. 


It is in these quiet moments that I regain my balance, my center, my self, my breath. And it's not because I am alone - it's because it's often in these moments that I feel most connected to the One Who is My Center. Perhaps this is why I countdown to these moments, not for the solitude, but for peaceful connection.