Lesson 46: Wednesdays

My house is quiet.

I'm simply sitting on my couch drinking a hot cup of coffee and thinking.

A few questions may arise. Why is your house quiet, and isn't coffee usually hot?

My house is quiet, because it is Wednesday and Wednesday is my day off.

Day off? Mama's get a day off?




I do.

On Wednesdays, the sweetest woman from my church keeps Samara all day long! She loves it, Samara loves it, and I love it. Remember how I said the most important relationship a girl should form is with a 10-friend? Well, I'd say a woman hoping to adopt your children as their own grandkids is second!

On Wednesdays I pick up the entire house right away in the morning. I make all the beds with all their throw pillows. I straighten the towels in the bathroom and put all the stray clothes in their proper drawers.

Then, I enjoy my house in its finest condition for an entire day.

With a clean house and a clear agenda, I breath a sigh of relief and am able to think.

Is quiet necessary for me to think. Yes ... and no. Recently, I took the Myers-Briggs personality test, and surprising to many of you who know me, I am almost equal parts Introvert and Extrovert.

Being an introvert or an extrovert pertains mostly to where a person gets their energy from. Do you gain energy from being around people, or do you need time by yourself to refuel? It's a good thing to be aware of for yourself, because it allows you to arrange your schedule in a way that gives you optimal energy. You can take the test here.

I've always been baffled by energy question, because the answer has always been both to me. My college roommate still laughs at how I would chase her out of the dorm whenever I was writing a paper, because I wanted no distractions. "No, don't even ask me one question. Just leave."

That being said, I have completed almost 46 credits of graduate work with a child around. (The other 20 will be done with two.) Oh, I get my one day alone in the library a semester, but the majority of those papers and reading assignments have been completed with one hand on a book and the other building a block tower.

On my Wednesdays off, I rarely do schoolwork (though I should). I often spend the day shopping, visiting friends, or heading to seminary to hang out Mark. At these times when no one is around (well, Hudson is around, but when you are the mother of two, one seems like vacation), I usually seek out people.

Extrovert.

Oh, but there are also some Wednesdays, where I just sit in the quiet of my cleaned-up home and read, look at magazines, blog, drink my hot coffee, and it is amazing.

Introvert.

Why the emphasis that the coffee is hot? Because most mornings, by the time I've finished feeding Hudson, prepared Samara's breakfast, changed both of their diapers (sometimes twice), and gotten them involved in self-sustaining activities, my coffee is lukewarm at best, but usually cold.

And so my friends, hot coffee is a treat. Don't you ever forget that!


Lesson Learned: Balance is found in enjoying the busyness and the quiet in life.