learning to slow down

After a three and a half month long adventure, we are finally in our new house. We have learned so many things and met some really neat people that we would not have met had we not lived in the campers.

Phoebe and Benjamin schooling in the camper.

Esther loved the toothpicks that were on the table when we were in the campers.

One of the coolest things that I learned during this past six weeks is that I really don’t have to be in such a hurry all the time. We spent a lot of time with many “retired” people at the RV park. We spent time playing cards, talking and watching them do their work. The lady who owns the park is a fairly recent widow. It was really neat to see the people who come to the park year after year help her do some of the things that I’m sure her husband used to take care of. And yet there was a peacefulness to all the work.

For instance, the picnic tables are all being redone. The frame is metal and the seats and table are wood. New wood is cut and screwed onto the frame. The wood is painted and some even have fun garden designs painted on them. The man who is doing this project is doing them one at a time from start to finish. Now if I were in charge of this project, I would be cutting all the wood first, then lining up the tables and put them together and paint them assembly line style. Of course, I’d enlist a few friends to help me. We’d have those tables completed in no time. … and we’d all be stressed out…

The man who is helping to fix the pond in front of the club house doesn’t seem to be in a hurry either. He works for a while and then spends time with his wife and other friends. He just picks up where he left off the next day. When I asked him how long he thought it would take, he said “However long it takes.” There was no stress in his voice… even when I accidently knocked a few of the large rocks off the pile.

There is this attitude of whatever I don’t finish today can just be done tomorrow. Where as I usually feel like tomorrow is so full, I need to do everything I can today. I seem to set up arbitrary goals and deadlines for  our family so that we can get on to the next goal or deadline. I didn’t realize how stressful all that is.

We’ve spent the last 6 weeks having a reduced school load and of course a really reduced homemaking load and I’ve really enjoyed the slow, social aspect of RV park living. I know our school load and homemaking load will increase, and yet I hope to keep the peaceful attitude that I observed in these older people. I’m going to try…. wish me well.

Full disclosure:  As I am finishing this post I have four children clamoring for my attention. One needs help spelling words for some of his co-op homework due Thursday. One would really like to get out of her booster chair, but I want her to finish her breakfast. One is sitting beside me on the couch wanting to chit chat. And one is frantically trying to find and scan mine and Carl’s high school senior pictures for the Senior Mystery Page in the yearbook which is really not due until the 18th, but the editor lives 30 minutes away and we will see her today. It’s a good opportunity to practice peaceful living!

Thanks for sharing with your friends!