Kairos

I may have mentioned on more than one recent occasion my current obsession with mom blogs. Actually, there are a few non-mom titles in there as well. I'm blog-addicted. And what started it all was this post that a friend of mine had shared on Facebook a couple of weeks back. (Thanks Sarah!) Of course by now you have all likely seen it somewhere, on Facebook, or on the Huffington Post, or on about a million other websites and talk shows. Imagine getting so much attention for one blog post. It turns out that it wasn't a fluke, this woman amazes me every time I read something she has written. Her writing, her brain, her heart - it's all quite breathtaking...and hysterically, even-my-husband-is-laughing-funny. Where was I going with this?

Oh yes. So "Don't Carpe Diem" is all about how difficult and, arguably, unrealistic it is to seize every moment of your day and see it as a precious gift, particularly when raising young children. In the end, she brilliantly and eloquently boils it down to two types of time - Chronos and Kairos. Oh heck, just go and read the article for yourself. It's worth it. I'll wait.

Okay, are we up to speed? Good. So I've been thinking about that a lot, and it's slowly starting to seep its way into my daily routine. I've been lucky enough to have two Karios moments today, and it's not even noon.

1. This morning E slept in and I had to wake her up for school. Now if you recall, I am terrified of my daughter, and oftentimes the wake-up call, no matter how sweet and loving, is not well received. Considering that she is also recovering from a bit of a cold, I was experiencing more than mild trepidation at the prospect. But I soldiered on like the brave warrior I am. I knelt down, put my hand on her back and said "Your clock is yellow, it's time to wake up!" as soothingly as I could. And when she turned her head to me and popped one eye open, I was rewarded with an absolutely heartwarming smile, the smile of someone who has just been pleasantly surprised by her most favourite person in the whole world. It was awesome.

2. J had an unexpected morning off today and wanted to accompany me on my grocery shopping expedition. I grudgingly allowed him to tag along, forseeing an unnecessarily inflated grocery bill and an extra hour out of my day as a result of this new development. I can be a jerk sometimes. What I got instead was an hour and a half (I know, right?!) of quality, uninterrupted and wholly enjoyable time with my husband. Along with 8 bottles of totally necessary wine. It was also awesome.

So you see, some days are meant to be seized in their entirety, like your wedding day or the day you find out that your cancer is gone. But some days aren't going to be filled with sunshine and rainbows, no matter how much blowing you do, and that's just fine. It's when you find yourself, day after day, not finding a single thing to smile about that you might want to do some serious re-evaluation. For me, I had two blissful moments with my two favourite people this morning, and if the only thing I carpe for the rest of the day is another cup of coffee, well I'm pretty sure that's a good thing.