solo mama entendre

Oh my goodness. When was the last time you asked a friend that? Or planned an outfit together? The closest I’ve come in recent years is the awkward question “what’s appropriate to wear” to a work function or some other event that I’d rather avoid altogether.

How fun would it be if the biggest concern I had on any given day was how my best friend and I could coordinate outfits? Or simply just making sure I shower and dress before leaving the house?

It’s entertaining how different boys and girls are; I’m lucky to have both in the house and within 18 months of each other. The difference in their morning routine is astounding. My son has to be reminded regularly about bathing (imagine the signs you see at manufacturing plants where a handwritten number counts the number of days the plant has been accident free – the sign on my son’s bedroom door reads “118 days since my last shower”). My daughter showers too much for me to keep up with her pricey shampoo and conditioner (a few tens short of a monthly car payment). My daughter leaves the house in a meticulously planned outfit, my son stumbles from his bed to the couch to the car in the morning with a brief stop in the kitchen to make his lunch without ever looking in a mirror. I crack myself up imagining him calling his buddy in the morning and grunting through the phone “Hey. What are you wearing today?”

Each morning over the past several years, I awake to a hundred different thoughts, and most of them are overwhelming and negative. It would be the biggest relief to wake up only wondering what I was going to wear, or getting on the phone with my bestie while we get ready for the day. Lately, I’m working on getting a better handle on my thoughts by paying attention to my breathing when I wake up and noticing what thoughts distract me in the process. While it’s a work in progress, the exercise has helped me identify thoughts before my emotions take over and cloud my day. It stops the overwhelm in its tracks and gives me space to get up and start the day, one simple task at a time.