One of my favorite movies is The World According to Garp with Robin Williams based on the book by John Irving. One of the most memorable scenes to me was when Garp (Williams) is playing dragon with his sons in the front yard. He tells Helen (his wife) that sometimes you can live a lifetime in one day.
I think I did just that. The best of times and the worst of times all in one day, okay, maybe a weekend.
This beautiful sunny weekend was wrought with challenges in parenting and emotional well-being. My husband and I faced dealing with my gifted yet severely ADD 13 year old son and his whopping 11 average in Math class. Yes, you read correctly. An 11 average in pre-algebra. How exactly does one accomplish that? I try to tell him that "F" doesn't stand for "fabulous" but somehow it doesn't register.
Throw into that my youngest son who has anger issues, an empty checking account, a cranky husband, and a daughter who hosted a sleepover for two other girls and you have quite a fun time!!
Parenting and marriage are tough on a daily basis. The balancing act of keeping one's cool in the face of teenagers, a mountain of laundry, the maltepoo who still isn't house trained at 1 1/2 years old and oh yeah, trying to squeeze in some "fun" is not always easy. Somehow though, we managed to bond over the weekend, by cooking breakfast, taking a Sunday drive to a quaint college town and watching all the kids frolic among the fall leaves and huge oak trees while wrestling and turning cartwheels as my husband and I walked arm-in-arm.
Just like Garp, we lived a lifetime in one day. We probably do this everyday but we don't always take a moment to acknowledge it. I am glad I did this time.
1 comment:
I think we all suffer from the same problem. I just wrote an email to a friend telling her why I cannot get together for at least two weeks - something on every single day. And yet, what is more important than having friends? We're all over-worked, over-stressed (and underpaid!). I like your lifetime-in-a-day idea. Maybe we should all set aside one day and spend it that way. You've given me something to think about. Thanks.
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