A book and a new blogger

For the past several years, reading has fallen off of my priority list. Of course I’ve read Llama, Llama Mad at Mama and I Wear My Tutu Everywhere more times than I can count. But outside of children’s literature, I have bought a few books here and there only to never crack them open. Instead, I’ve been content to read blogs and articles on the computer or my phone and occasionally flip through magazines. I like to pretend I’m still a reader, but most of my consumption has been snippets of writing like “Ten Foods You Should Never Eat Again” or “Three Parenting Pitfalls to Avoid,” complete with little graphics to swipe along the way. It’s as if my attention span has shortened as we’ve become inundated with ever-changing, handheld information and now the thought of being quiet and still long enough to read a real book is overwhelming.

This past weekend the Spouse and I had the chance to get away for two short nights {thanks to my brave in-laws!}. Our lives at home are pretty action-packed, so I thought the slower pace of this 48-hour getaway would be a good chance to take a book and try to relearn how to read something besides digital news or a Facebook feed. I took along Chasing Slow: Courage to Journey off the Beaten Path by Erin Loechner, and these were a couple of my favorite passages:

Slowing down our lives allows the time and space to see beauty around us; to notice life with each of the senses it was intended for. We were not built for two-dimensional experiences. We were built for eye contact and wide grins and messy relationships and fully immersed, in-person living. When we stop to slow down and learn about the people around us, we learn more about our own personality.

Slowing down is counterintuitive and counter-cultural these days. And, if we’re not careful, our whole existence can become two-dimentionsal as screens and automation dominate so many facets of our modern lives. I need this reminder to “slow down” and “see beauty” around me. Watching the sunset is one of those things I never take time to do at home. But it’s pretty incredible, free entertainment every time it happens. And it happens every day.

A few chapters later Loechner wrote this:

Do you know the best things in life cannot be measured? Aptitude is not a perfect test score. Balance is not a perfect day planner. Creativity is not a perfect art sculpture. The best things in life cannot be measured, but they can be learned, practiced, honed. Home is a good place to start — the place where we keep our junk drawer, where its contents find ways to spill out into the people who know us best, who have promised to love us at our worst.

In these again-again-again days with our children, there are muddy paws and unrolled toilet paper, yelling and do-overs, apologies and redeeming bath bubbles.

And there is great forgiveness, if we’re lucky. Immeasurable forgiveness, if we’re even luckier.

I would do well to let those words sink in. I’d like to think that I know the best things in life can’t be measured, but sometimes it’s hard to keep that truth in perspective when we live in a world that measures everything from the number of steps we take in a given hour to the number of likes our most recent post has amassed. I know that at the end of the day I don’t want to raise my children to be “successful” as much as I want to raise them to be content. Contentment is harder to measure and harder to teach, but I know it involves a lot of letting go and letting be. It’s chockfull of messiness and messing up. It involves tons of forgiving and a whole lot of loving.

I didn’t come back from our 48-hour trip a changed person. But, sometimes a few hours away from our ordinary life can help us better see how our ordinary life–the one that’s full of “muddy paws and unrolled toilet paper, yelling and do-overs, apologies and redeeming bath bubbles”–is pretty extraordinary.

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While we were away, the girls were happily entertained and busily documenting their own adventures. When we got back to them the 4th Grader couldn’t wait to tell me she had blogged about their weekend. So, without further adieu, I’m going to invite her to be our guest blogger for the rest of this post by sharing two of her posts from the weekend. I’ve not edited her writing at all except to omit their real names. This is her post from the second day of their stay:

Items of note:

1. She and the 2nd Grader had a good night’s rest. I think it is safe to assume that no one else did.
2. The Preschooler “is really tired but she is trying to hide it” is pretty much the story of her life. It’s almost always true that “she needs a nap.” Typically the people caring for her {myself included} also need a nap.
3. “My mom was reading a magazine which is very unusual” is a true statement. And, that’s exactly why I’m reading a book called Chasing Slow. I’d like my kids to occasionally see me reading instead of running around, running errands, and/or running my mouth.

Here’s her blog post from Monday:

Items of note:

1. Pop Tarts are very rare at our house. And, this is one of many reasons why kids love grandparents.
2. Picking up sticks in our yard would not be fun. But, if you’re a grandparent you can announce that you need help picking up sticks and the response is, “It will be a lot of fun!” Grandparents have magical powers to make ordinary tasks morph into grand adventures.
3. I think Grammy’s decision to forbid Papa from coming into the house until he was bug-free and the whole bug issue had been resolved was very wise. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

I’m excited the 4th Grader enjoys blogging. In a few years I think I’ll hand the reigns over to her. Until then I’m going to keep chasing slow… and chasing the Preschooler.