August 2, 2009

My Plan to Stop Time

In a month, the sun will set on summer and fall schedules will be underway. Given the speed at which September through December usually progresses, I feel like August is the last chance to catch a breath before the year takes over. My wish is that folks treat themselves to a civilized August, similar to how the French take the whole month off, or how New Yorkers flee to the Hamptons. If we can slow things down by stepping out of our normal routines, maybe we'll start to gain some time back, or at least not loose it so quickly.

The plan might possibly be working, because I've finally gotten a chance to read more books! This one, Traveling With Kids (my very favorite subject!) by Leslie Forsberg and Michelle Duffy, hits the mark right here:

Even if it requires some work to manifest, spending time with our children away from daily routines can be transformative...If we slow down and try to see the world through their eyes, we can find the kid inside ourselves that we've forgotten for a long time. When you go on a trip with your children, breathe deeply, kick off your shoes, and plunge wholeheartedly into adventures. You may find yourself grinning so broadly that your cheeks hurt.

Whether at home or away, with kids or without kids, my Dream this Monday is that folks can plunge wholeheartedly into August, grinning broadly.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Amen! I'm plunging on in wholeheartedly myself, in the middle of the Green Mountains.

familyadventureguidebooks said...

Great post Lorraine. I'm going to have to think about what that means for our family. Have to start catching up on some local adventures.

Momisodes said...

What a lovely sentiment and idea. I felt like we did this in May with our trip to Florida. We flew down there to stay with my parents. My daughter had some quality grandparent attention, and my husband and I were able to spend some alone time to reconnect. So lovely.
Wish we could do it again this August!

Carolina said...

Good so you're validating my lazy self. I spent most of my weekend laying in a hammock staring up at pine trees. Today I dropped off Diego at camp in this awesome park and thought I just want to stay here and hike. Tomorrow, we're taking some croissants and coffee to the park before camp, and then I'm taking a hike with my sister. I'm supposed to organize a closet, but this plan sounds much better.

Andi said...

Thanks for the reminder! I'm definitely going to slow my August down. :)