There are some quiet times during that day that I cherish. They are times when my mind is out of gear, free wheeling in neutral and ready to go wherever it may go. Sometimes I am just quiet and sometimes I may have some work or family thing bouncing around in my mind. It is a time to be creative and solve problems, or just a time to be quiet and peaceful. Some of the times I find I am like this are early in the morning while making breakfast and getting ready, while taking a bath, brushing my teeth, having an inspection walk in the garden at the end of the day and so on.

I have been really fortunate that Grace has gotten into a good morning routine where she pretty much entertains herself in the morning. I give her a few books, put on some music, maybe put out some toys and she potters around in her room for most of the breakfast preparation and morning routine time. It was one of the things that I struggled with a bit when she was younger and required more immediate attention, so I am very glad to have that time back to myself. I seem to gather strength and focus from the morning quiet time, so I sometimes found it quite draining when there was a constant demand on that time.

I recently got a new phone and have noticed something that I find interesting. It is a phone with nice access to all the social media and internet goodies (like Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter) and even though I would not normally access things like Facebook too often I have found myself checking things and playing with my phone (exploring some of the possibilities) in some of those quiet moments. One might perceive this as more efficient – I can check my personal email while brushing my teeth – but it is not more productive.

It is so easy to steal away the quiet moments, to lose out on those moments of clarity, and to fill it all up with busy-ness. But I am not going to. I am going to hold onto my quiet moments. I am going to make sure that I allow my mind time to be free, time to be untethered, time to be creative.

A smile would have been better, but jaw forward seems to be the way we roll at the moment…