Ask any astronaut who's preparing for the crucial moments of crossing into the earth's atmosphere from outer space, or an expat who's lived abroad for several years but is returning home (and is wondering where home is!), and they'll tell you the same thing: re-entry is tough.
Or, if you don't happen to have any astronauts or expats handy to inquire of, you could turn to a homeschooling mom who's returning from a weekend away at a fantastic homeschool convention, and she'll say it, too: re-entry is tough.
OK, well, maybe I'm stretching my comparison a little here as I try to include homeschool moms in the astronaut and expatriate category! ;-) But for me (and of course, I can't speak for all homeschool moms who've attended a convention recently), returning home and trying to readjust to "normalcy" has been challenging.
I'd really rather be listening to inspiring speakers than looking at a bathroom that needs cleaned. I'd rather be thinking about curriculum choices than preparing peas for the freezer. I'd rather be hunting for bargains in the used curriculum sale than cleaning up dog pee from the floor. I'd rather be in the exhibit hall bumping into homeschool friends from across the state than trying to get a chocolate ice cream stain out of a shirt before throwing it into the washing machine. Most of all, I'd rather have my family all together, off having fun somewhere and making special memories, than be back to our regular routine of Jeff going off to work.
Normally I'm quite a homebody, and performing the simple tasks of homemaking and caring for my family fills me with quiet joy. But after the mountaintop experience of our family get-away to the homeschool convention, it is taking me longer than I would like to feel content and peaceful about my ordinary days here at home, filled with all the regular jobs that are necessary for the nurturing of a family.
I'll get there. That peace will return. But until then, what I really want to say is, "Can't we just run away again and delay our re-entry a little longer?" :)
3 comments:
*sigh* I hear ya. It's been awhile since we were on vacation but some days I feel like I'm still struggling with re-entry. We are adjusting to a new work schedule for Roger and I think that doesn't help anything. We are moving in a month... I'm hoping that's the change we need to get back into a groove? (Don't burst my bubble, I realize how silly that sounds.)
I hope you get adjusted back to your normal soon. Or even better, get a few days with your family all together at home. :)
This almost has me laughing a little bit! I really enjoyed the convention, but I wanted to get home and get a fresh start and see if I could get a better handle on my life by putting into practice things I had learned and by using the fresh inspiration and motivation I got while at the convention. It all lasted one great, wonderful, intentional day. On Tuesday I woke up with a bad case of diarrhea, and coupled with a med change the night before, I was lying down pretty much all day because my blood pressure was too low. It didn't help that Andrew was gone all day helping his parents move. Fortunately, Hannah and Paul are great workers and managed the meals and took care of the younger ones. Finally, I asked Andrew to come home early and he got here around 7 or 8:00 and brought gatorade for me and managed the bedtime routines single-handedly. I felt like I lost a whole day of my life! It was SO not in my plans! Now, I'm going to try a gentle start at life again today. (I feel much better this morning!) Anyway, I hope you can get some good motivation and "fresh start" energy soon!
If you figure out how to do that please let me know!! I have BOOKS everywhere!! Piles of laundry!! And I am leaving again on Friday.. I want some normalcy but there is so much to do to get back to that! I LOVED listening to the speakers though!
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