This is not a new theme of mine, but I'm still sometimes amazed at how the rhythm of my days flow, intrigued at how they would look plotted on a graph, tempted to get a podometer just to be able to map out the differences.
Time with Frieda is slow and measured. Not that she is at all - she's busy and unstoppably energetic - but it's slow in the sense of how productive I am, and feel. Frieda time is all about Frieda, and all about what Frieda does and doesn't want to do.
I'm okay with this, really I am. I do believe it's not only hugely beneficial for a young child to have this kind of time with a parent (and ditto the parent to slow down and experience life with a child), let alone a privilege these days, but as I'm not with her all day and every day, I happy for our time together to run at her pace, to allow for unexpected diversions, to not be too fraught with schedules and tasks and deadlines.
The flipside however is that time without Frieda is often m-a-n-i-c. Time in which I find myself driving around town with my filofax open on my lap for making quick lists and calls, time in which I'm continually on the run, time which is as precious and fleeting as an hour lying on the couch reading The Gruffalo, but so much more pressured.
And while most times I'm really happy with this double life, I really do wish that the contrast between them wasn't quite so drastic.
And I know, I know, that I bang on and on about this, but seriously, do we live in a goddamn beautiful city or what?
4 comments:
Beautiful city. Beautiful girl. And I can totally relate to the pace changes. Same in my every day life.
Wow it is beautiful!!! and it's great that you slow down for Frieda, I still feel guilty about the times when I did something I wanted to do and told the girls to go play or something! Bad mama.
Beautiful picture, wonderful subject.
When my son went away for camp earlier this month for nine days that's when life slowed down for me. Children fill the space with so much energy and sound even when they are playing quietly.
Enjoy each moment.
cape town is indeed perfection...all that other stuff, it's just life. :-)
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