Time

Picture it: you're showing someone a piece you've worked on (in my case it was a fucking GORGEOUS quilt) and someone else walks by, snorts mockingly, and declares authoritatively "Well, somebody obviously has too much time on their hands." OK, that semester in college I got seven As and one B in my classes. I was there on a full music scholarship. I worked. I made the quilt 100% by hand. I am a fidgety, caffeine-fueled, hyperactive, tail-chasing, finger-tapping, leg-shaking person. I'm not good at sitting still. I've been up for almost five hours and it's only 9:49am. Already today I've walked miles, made breakfast, done laundry and dishes, checked my email and my boss's, taken care of the work that was waiting for me, showered, and gotten my four-year-old up, fed, dressed, and teeth brushed. But if you were to ask me at the end of my day "What did you do today?" I would reply "Nothing." Because you don't want to hear about my art/sewing/child-feeding. They don't count. Only things you LEAVE the house for count.

As a stay-at-home-mom, I know there's a stigma. Right now, if you walked into my house, you'd think "When is the last time this chick vacuumed?" I can tell you it's only been two or three times this year. Does the floor need it? You bet. Do I have time to do it? Of course. But it scares Mini Me. Now, lots of moms would ignore that and vacuum anyway, while their child screamed and cried in terror because god forbid there be a stray Cheerio on the floor. Me, I'll leave the monsters to giving him nightmares and vacuum when he's out of the house - which isn't often. Despite the load in the dishwasher, there's a pile of dirties in the sink, Mini's hamper is still half-full of smelly little boy clothes, and I really should scrub the toilet with that thingy with the little disposable clip-on sponge things. And I will. All these things get done just in time for them to need to be done again. But I'm a STAY-AT-HOME-MOM! Shouldn't things be CLEANER? What the hell do I do with all my TIME?

Anything I want. I play video games. I surf the 'Net. I scrapbook. I draw. I paint. I play video games and draw and paint with my son. We walk to the park, to the mall, to the movies, to McDonald's with the PlayPlace, to Starbucks for tea and a cookie. We leave the dirty dishes and the dirty laundry and the clutter. There's no mold or mildew or insects or pests. We live in an apartment that's "clean enough". Do I have a point? Not really, I guess. Donna Downey did an inspiration Wednesday post and the quote she put in her journal was this: Time that you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. It's attributed to about seven different people if you look it up, so I'm not going to guess who was the originator. I just wish people did less of what they were "supposed" to and just learned to live.