Gluttony

March 20, 2014

Written by Marykate OMalley, mother of three wonderful children, Gladwyne, Pa 

 

We all have our weaknesses, our Achilles heel if you will, mine is over indulging in spring activities. Not autumn when we are easing off the summer and I am balanced and cautious about strain on the system. Not winter which is kicked off by the holiday season and all the activity that provides. By then we are ready to take it back a notch and keep it low key with some much needed unstructured time.

My gluttony is reserved for spring. And it is fed by children who want to do everything, and are well rounded enough in their interests to take it on. What that equates to is a very, very, full schedule. And a mother who is wondering what she was thinking (clearly there wasn’t thinking involved) when she signed up for all of this.

I blame on the winter. I have been starved for sunshine, and warmth, and being outdoors with friends so the lure of an outdoor sport is simply too enticing to turn away. My children have also been starved for fresh air and wide open fields and so between all of us, it is the perfect storm of over indulgence. I see photographs of girls running with lacrosse sticks, in shorts, with a backdrop of trees with gorgeous green leaves and find myself saying, “yes, yes of course you can, you should sign up for this!” And then the little boys with baseball gloves, and caps, and honestly is there anything cuter than a little boy in a baseball uniform? Maybe a little girl in a ballet ensemble which draws from my lips “of course honey, yes, I know you love baseball”. And then there is track and the leverage and scalability of 2 children in the same sport, and he will be sitting on the sidelines anyway so why not, and I hear myself saying, “great idea, yes, you can run track with your sister”.

It was the promise of spring, on the websites, the registration forms, and the glossy brochure covers that did me in. It was the promise of this endless winter ending. As if I could draw every crocus, every red breasted robin, every green blade of grass closer to me with each form, each check, each enrollment event.

 

Spring 2013

So here we are. March 2014. And we are looking at a spring schedule that includes lacrosse, track (x 2 children), soccer, baseball, art, piano (x3), violin, and singing lessons which may morph into guitar. And trending in the last couple of days, a possible second lacrosse sign up. And it snowed again this week, and we are still in hats and gloves. And I am putting away snow pants, and boots, and digging through closets for baseball mitts and lacrosse goggles and cleats for spring cleaning and inventory. And every day the light lingers a little longer, the temperatures rise ever so slightly, new life pushes its way through the earth.

And so on this first day of spring, so long winter! Hello spring! Here we goooooooo!

 

 

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Does anyone else do this with spring sign ups? It is a pattern of behavior for me. I have an awareness but can’t seem to break the cycle and honestly kind of want to be outdoors doing all of this!

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Category: Activities, Brilliant, For Kids, For Moms, Momzone, Outdoor, Outdoor Space, Random and Fun