It's the second gloomy day in a row. Winters in Michigan are rough--we are cooped up way too long--so summer is our opportunity to get outside and soak in the sun and nature and all the beauty that Michigan has to offer during this time of year. Rainy summer days are no fair--this is when we are supposed to be outside!
At 10:30am I looked out the rain splattered window to see the sun peeking through the clouds. "Get your shoes on, Asher!" I said. Even if it was just for a minute, we were going outside!
I popped my son in the stroller, planning to walk a couple blocks to the store, get our errands done, and get some fresh air. With a bag full of cheese and lettuce for our tacos tonight, and a Vitamin water in my hand, we exited the store to see the sun still shining high, but dark, ominous storm clouds surrounding our pocket of sunshine. I thought to myself, I guess we'll just head home. We don't want to get caught out in anything. But as we made our way to our house, I followed an impulse to just keep on walking past. I wasn't ready to go inside yet!
I headed around the block as a cool wind hit our faces. I kept pushing onward, further from our house, though the pending storm begged me to turn around. I felt invigorated. This was the most alive I'd felt all day.
Rain drops began to fall, one by one, and I finally decided to turn around, though I certainly wasn't in a hurry. Just as I parked the stroller at the front door and waved to the mailman, the skies opened up, so I grabbed my then sleeping toddler and made it inside, slightly damp and with a smile on my face, feeling like I'd had an adventure.
Ok, ok. Maybe this doesn't sound like a grand adventure to you. I mean, our lives weren't actually at stake, and we never left our neighborhood. But when you spend most of your time making the sensible choice, and every day looks very much like the day before, something as simple as playing chicken with an impending storm felt like climbing Mt. Everest. And this mommy needed that adventure!
Truly, being a mommy IS the grand adventure. It's exhilarating and terrifying, full of joy and sadness, testing my physical, emotional, and spiritual limits on a regular basis. It's a challenge and a privilege in equal measure. I thought becoming a mother would be the final great adventure to cap off a youth full of travel and risk taking. Because I am a mother now, I need to settle into the roll and let this be my life, right?
I beg to differ!
Motherhood IS a grand adventure, but it is certainly not going to be this woman's only adventure. Adventure might look different now. It might involve pushing a stroller or carrying a child on your back. It might involve checking in with a babysitter now and then. It might involve stopping to pump or feed someone or use a bathroom. But adventure there still must be!
This past Independence Day, my son stayed with his grandparents while my husband and I took some friends to the sand dunes along Lake Michigan. This was one of my favorite places growing up. We climbed to the top of the dunes to see the gorgeous view, and someone suggested we run down. I did that as a kid, but it had been a long time. Can grown ups still do things like that? I guess so, because this grown-up did! We all flew down the dune, legs going faster than we could keep up, nearly somersaulting down the hill into the water, and when I got to the bottom I felt so FREE! So free, in fact, that we all decided to climb up and do it again!
Sometimes the days all blend together. Some days sleep is rare and tantrums are plenty. Sometimes this grand adventure of raising a child doesn't feel like an adventure at all. That is ok. Sometimes walking up the sand dune doesn't feel like an adventure, either, but then you get to run down and remember! It's also not our only adventure. If you keep your eyes open, you can find a little bit of adventure in every single day.
At 10:30am I looked out the rain splattered window to see the sun peeking through the clouds. "Get your shoes on, Asher!" I said. Even if it was just for a minute, we were going outside!
I popped my son in the stroller, planning to walk a couple blocks to the store, get our errands done, and get some fresh air. With a bag full of cheese and lettuce for our tacos tonight, and a Vitamin water in my hand, we exited the store to see the sun still shining high, but dark, ominous storm clouds surrounding our pocket of sunshine. I thought to myself, I guess we'll just head home. We don't want to get caught out in anything. But as we made our way to our house, I followed an impulse to just keep on walking past. I wasn't ready to go inside yet!
I headed around the block as a cool wind hit our faces. I kept pushing onward, further from our house, though the pending storm begged me to turn around. I felt invigorated. This was the most alive I'd felt all day.
Rain drops began to fall, one by one, and I finally decided to turn around, though I certainly wasn't in a hurry. Just as I parked the stroller at the front door and waved to the mailman, the skies opened up, so I grabbed my then sleeping toddler and made it inside, slightly damp and with a smile on my face, feeling like I'd had an adventure.
Ok, ok. Maybe this doesn't sound like a grand adventure to you. I mean, our lives weren't actually at stake, and we never left our neighborhood. But when you spend most of your time making the sensible choice, and every day looks very much like the day before, something as simple as playing chicken with an impending storm felt like climbing Mt. Everest. And this mommy needed that adventure!
Truly, being a mommy IS the grand adventure. It's exhilarating and terrifying, full of joy and sadness, testing my physical, emotional, and spiritual limits on a regular basis. It's a challenge and a privilege in equal measure. I thought becoming a mother would be the final great adventure to cap off a youth full of travel and risk taking. Because I am a mother now, I need to settle into the roll and let this be my life, right?
I beg to differ!
Motherhood IS a grand adventure, but it is certainly not going to be this woman's only adventure. Adventure might look different now. It might involve pushing a stroller or carrying a child on your back. It might involve checking in with a babysitter now and then. It might involve stopping to pump or feed someone or use a bathroom. But adventure there still must be!
This past Independence Day, my son stayed with his grandparents while my husband and I took some friends to the sand dunes along Lake Michigan. This was one of my favorite places growing up. We climbed to the top of the dunes to see the gorgeous view, and someone suggested we run down. I did that as a kid, but it had been a long time. Can grown ups still do things like that? I guess so, because this grown-up did! We all flew down the dune, legs going faster than we could keep up, nearly somersaulting down the hill into the water, and when I got to the bottom I felt so FREE! So free, in fact, that we all decided to climb up and do it again!
Sometimes the days all blend together. Some days sleep is rare and tantrums are plenty. Sometimes this grand adventure of raising a child doesn't feel like an adventure at all. That is ok. Sometimes walking up the sand dune doesn't feel like an adventure, either, but then you get to run down and remember! It's also not our only adventure. If you keep your eyes open, you can find a little bit of adventure in every single day.
Post by Daren Wendell.