Guess What I Just Did

I sat in my family room and watched a TV show while enjoying a bowl of ice cream. (White Collar and Breyer's Natural Vanilla with shell chocolate syrup and chocolate chips, if you're curious.) This is something I never do. Actually, I do this, but never alone. 

Brian is the force for fun in my life. He lobbies for us not working ourselves to death and playing once in a while. I love that about him, but I got to wondering lately if that was super healthy - not being able to relax unless someone leads me by the hand. I started wondering when I told a friend I never watch TV without Brian. This is partly because we watch shows online and the process of finding them if the network decides not to have them baffles me. I just let him hunt around for them, download the various players and then watch the same three lame commercials the whole show. So don't ask me if I've seen that funny commercial that's on lately, because I have not. But it saves money and this pleases me greatly. 

Anyway, eating ice cream for supper and watching a show tonight grew out of my intentional "time off" mindset. I'm actually acquiring a level of comfort with taking it easy. This is huge for me. I don't feel like things are crumbling around me. I'm hearing fewer demands inside my head. When I say no to something, I'm aware that I'm trading it in for sincere interest in my kids. That's the best part. I seriously didn't know I could be like this. 

Here's life in the world of a type A person doing the minimum. I let receipts sit on my desk for three or four days before entering them in our budget spreadsheet. I put the kids laundry away (with them) today, although laundry happened Sunday. My main floor toilet is dirty. All these things happened before, but I was not okay with them. I thought I had to maintain some level of anxiety about it - carry just a little upset-ness about every little thing that wasn't up to my standard. 

Not so, friends. Even type A's can find peace. This week the kids are memorizing, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men." Well, I'll be. Maybe I could say it like this, just to myself and you of course, "and on earth peace to type A women." Hallelujah.