Thursday, April 29, 2010

Seesaw



When I was a child, the hundred-year-old grade school was just down the alley way and a small jog through the towering pines which separated my block from the library and then a jump across the street. I would often escape to the playground of the school. The swings swung high and dangerous, the merry-go-round was fast and left me dizzy, but my favorite thing to do was to try to balance on the giant 5-coats-of-chipped-paint teeter toters. They were heavy and had three steel grooves underneath so as to accommodate any unbalanced weight. My right thigh bares a scare from being caught under a heavy seesaw groove.

I would often place the seesaw on the middle groove, step on top and then try to balance the wood plank just so...and just when it seemed that the world had stopped and I had achieved the impossible...it would tip and I would overcompensate and it would tip again and again.




This is my life right now; overcompensating, tipping, trying to balance, but not quite able to keep it "just right". I keep waiting for the calm to come and the grooves to click into place so that everything is just so. But maybe that isn't the way it is supposed to be right now?



I like comfortable, but maybe slightly uncomfortable doesn't necessarily mean without a sense of peace and happiness. I enjoy being the YW president, but the feeling that I am really "on top of it" is very fleeting and usually slips through my fingers about an hour after church ends.



I very much enjoy being my children's mother, but I very rarely feel at the top of my game. There is constantly something new thrown into the mix, and at any given moment I feel that I could turn into the crazy mom that I try to keep caged in my neurosis.



I try to remind myself that this is a consecrated time, I may not see or feel the blessings always that accompany sacrificing comfort. My unspoken deal with God is that this time as president of teenage girls while I have very difficult young children is really just helping me prepare to be able to guide my very difficult young girls when they hit puberty. Because it's all about me really:)

But the truth is (I know) that life isn't about comfort, as soon as I've found comfort and have mastered something in particular, the rug is pulled out and I find myself trying to catch my balance again. And that, I'm told, is what I asked for, right?

Speaking of rugs, I have been on the lookout for the perfect rug for our giant middle area in our great room for 2 years now. I wanted something perfect: big, not too vintagy, not too ugly, and soft.


I found this rug from Anthropologie, but it wasn't quite big enough and $3000 is slightly out of the budget.

Then I found this one on overstock. The tubes are quite large pieces of felted wool, it's so soft, big, colorful, and perfect for our space. And the kids love it, it actually absorbs some of the noise of that room. So we bought two.










Come on over, my house smells like a giant sweater.

8 comments:

MandJ Condie said...

This reminds me of a J. Golden Kimball quote. "I may not walk the straight and narrow, but I cross it as often as possible."

MandJ Condie said...

This is Mike btw.

Rochelleht said...

I'd love to come on over! I think that's what life always is. Waiting for it to be perfect, which it never will be. Right now, my girls are in bickering mode. Driving me CRAZY!!! As soon as they move out of that, the boys with start giving me fits again. It's the way of things, I suppose.

Wendy said...

I'm in love with that shrug you're wearing in the first picture. The rug is fantastic, too.

I really like the seesaw analogy. I wonder how long any of us are able to stay in that "just right" place. I haven't found it often. I do, seriously, think having one child allows for more serene moments than others. I get quickly overwhelmed when I'm in charge of multiple children if there are any expectations beyond "play and have fun." So I can't imagine your load right now . . . several young kids (however darling they are!), some special circumstances, the YW calling, etc., etc. The fact that you are getting ON the seesaw at all is a good thing. You will probably get more scars.

I long to feel on top of things all the time, too. I haven't yet learned to embrace that life isn't about comfort. I still pray, "Help me learn this, but don't make me go through anything hard to learn it."

I'm starting to ramble--!! I guess mostly I wanted to say I love what you wrote, and thank you for writing it. Very timely.

the wrath of khandrea said...

i find it ironic that you struggle so much with feeling as though you are balanced in your life, while i sit here and wish i could pull it all together half as well as you do.

Kristen said...

There are days that sometimes I want to sit on the couch and take a break from it all. I don't feel like I'm ever on top of my game either. But I know I've done something right when I look at my beautiful kids. That's what keeps off the couch 24/7.

DeLynn said...

You must be describing our old elementary school, Franklin, right?

It sure sounds like it...with the library right across the street and the swings and merry-go-round.

Wow. Brings me right back. Thanks, Martha!

Many blessings to you and yours!

Anonymous said...

I'm on the see-saw too! I adore that first photo of you.

I had no idea of the pressure of YW president until I become one. I love it but i never feel on top of my game.

I believe in you Martha-- I know you are doing better than you think. xoxo, m