The View From Here – Not What I Expected
October 20, 2021 2:36 pmWe wait to be grown ups so we can do things we couldn’t do as kids. Or so we thought.
We thought we would grow up and do anything we wanted, whenever we wanted.
We thought we could eat cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Who would stop us?
Buy all the candy we wanted and eat as much as we wanted. Because when ‘WE” had money, we could do what we wanted with it. Like buying the whole candy store.
We thought we would stay up all night and sleep all day, watch as much tv as we wanted.
We would grow up and make our OWN rules.
And then – we grow up.
And then we get hit with the reality of it. And it’s not nearly as much fun as we thought. Well, maybe just a different kind of fun.
We get sensible, and responsible, practical and logical. We don’t do the things we swore we would do because we KNOW better.
Doesn’t that suck sometimes? Do you ever have those days where you just want to stomp your feet and NOT do the adult stuff?
Sit in your pj’s and not do ANYTHING that you are SUPPOSED to do as a stupid grownup. (smile)
We’re told when we’re younger that we shouldn’t rush it. We should enjoy our time. We don’t fully believe it. We somehow think it will be different for US.
Surprise.
I was getting ready for work this morning, and I was just in a “mood” for no reason whatsoever. I was feeling mad about everything. 
Up early. Getting my daughter to school. Which really just means waking up to make sure she’s up and out the door. I never have to actually “do” anything anymore.
Exercise to feel good and attempt to lose some of these extra pounds that just keep showing up. Uninvited. Mad because I HAVE TO. Even if I should be thankful I GET to.
Breakfast. Counting calories, and portions because, those extra pounds mentioned above.
Planning the day. The list of things to do. Planning dinner, throwing in laundry. It never, ever stops – the laundry. It just keeps showing up. People in our house keep wearing clothes and using towels, and it never, ever stops.
This wasn’t part of the big “plan” I had in my head when I thought about being “grown up”.
Bills to pay. Stretching the money in the bank. Feeling accomplished by using up leftovers in a creative way that nobody really wants to eat.
Where’s the cake for breakfast? Cartoons all day?
Can us adults get a time out? Just a random moment where we just call “time out” and we take a break from being responsible and adult-like.
Sit in our blanket fort, colouring, eating too much candy. Pretending the outside world is gone and we don’t have to do the grown up things.
Can someone make that happen?
Once a week? Once a month?
And during that time out we don’t SEE the dirty dishes in the sink, or the piles of laundry, or the dirty bathrooms that need cleaning, or the dust on the shelves. We don’t see the bills that need to be paid.
Just one day. And we can shut our brains off so we don’t feel GUILTY about taking the time-out and leaving the rest of the family to fend for themselves and find the missing shoe, or figure out dinner.
Just imagine.
Blanket forts and Barbie dolls and the innocence of younger, more carefree days.
Sounds good in theory, but if you’re anything like me, you’ll realize that all that stuff that makes you want to call a time-out in the first place are the very things you love and wouldn’t want to go without.
Reach out anytime.
Categorised in: Afternoons
This post was written by Carrie Buchanan