Have you ever had a time in your life that seemed to call for a fast-forward button? Maybe it was a painful breakup or season of illness or time of great loss. You would have given anything to grab the remote and skip to the next scene, the one where everyone is happy and reunited and reminiscing over a glass of red wine.
I’d love to push a button and make last week and this week and probably next week disappear. It’s nothing as tragic as losing a great love, I’m just recovering from reconstructive surgery. Easy peasy. The problem is, I’m not a very good patient. I’m more of a “Let’s go get ’er done!” person. The word patient looks a lot like the word patience and I’m not very good at that, either.
But here’s the thing: sitting on the sidelines has given me a chance to simply watch the show. This show that is my life (and your life, too), is amazing! It’s filled with all kinds of colorful characters who have distinct personalities and plot lines and catch phrases that always seem to get a laugh.
Now, if you know my husband, you’re thinking, “Nic, it took you this long to realize your husband is a colorful character?”
No, I’m talking about the less obvious actors, like Charlie, my 10 year old son who never likes to talk. Only I just found out, he loves to talk! I just never sit still long enough to hear him. Charlie comes and sits on my bed while I’m resting and walks me through his entire day, methodically, step-by-step, and I listen. Charlie talks, he just needs a receptive audience.
Then there’s Jordan, who leaves her little heart on the volleyball court each week, even though many times her team ends up on the losing side of the bracket. Jordan wants to get better and she wants her whole team to get better so they can all make the middle school volleyball team next year. Now there’s a sub-plot worthy of following! The other day, instead of saying “I have to go to a volleyball game,” I said, “I get to go to a volleyball game.” It was one of my first outings and I was so thrilled that I could leave the house to see my daughter nail that tricky over-hand serve.
Little Ben has always provided the comic relief in our family. He’s still doing that. If you have 10 seconds, watch his duet with his dad. He’s playing along with a show our family likes to watch — see if you can guess what it is.
Okay, I’ll tell you. He’s playing along to the theme music of The Office.
Lately, I’ve been pawning off Ben’s reading homework on the big kids. They sit and listen to him read while I do the laundry or answer emails– or (horrible mom alert!) we skip the reading altogether. But the past two weeks that kid has read to me A LOT. I am shocked at how much better he is after just a month or two of my parental slacking. It’s so fun to see him work through sounds and ask questions about what words like “kelp” mean. It’s a seaweed plant.
As much as I long to be fully recovered and back to 100%, I cannot say that I would push the fast-forward button right now, even if I could. There’s a whole lot to be learned from sitting still and watching the show.
