Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Better than Prozac

Photo from australiantraveller.com

Two weeks of school holidays made me very depressed. Really sad, to the bone.

School holidays always sneak up on me, and catch me with no plans or means for lovely family trips to the beach and the like. The Luthier's one-man, small business means not much in the way of Smith family holidays.On our big adventure, he had about 10 days off work in seven weeks, leaving the kid-wrangling to moi. Anyhoo, one mustn't whine about an overseas adventure because it was unreal, child-challenges and all.

The fact is I don't cope well with prolonged periods with no time to myself. No time to do any old thing that takes my fancy does not work for me.

So on Saturday, the Luthier took the kids and I took a long walk in the sunshine. Just me and my iPod going GaGa. Destination fancy caf by the river, a glass of Jansz, some truly sublime lime cheesecake with a blood orange gel on the top and a good old chatfest with a lovely friend. No kids talk, no housework talk, we did not even slag off our husbands. We talked big, fanciful, outlandish ideas and she made me laugh so hard that I spat. On her cake. Terrible form.

Two hours did the trick.

I gotta remember that the it is, sometimes, that easy. Sunshine. A little time. A little walk. A little laugh. A little being nice to myself and now I feel more like being nice to everyone else.

12 comments:

Fer said...

Sounds like the perfect 'me time', spitting and all! :D

kris said...

I think we learn it, forget, re-learn it time and time and time and time and time again.

Maybe it's time to tattoo it on our hands?

Or stick it on the fridge.

Gillian Marsden said...

small tweaks hey?
and so true Kris!

I so understood this post even tho it is not at all my current space -
just so glad you and your family created that window for you to step through into river views xx

Gillian Marsden said...

o and funny you should say that Kris, have recently taken to writing on my inner arms Key words: the latest, 'you do not need to know' - text on body memory - not sure am ready to commit tho ;)

Isis said...

i know that feeling! sometimes you just gotta make sure you take time out for yourself x

kris said...

G., I'd stick with biro myself - or a nice texta colour. I think the words we need on our bodies now aren't the ones we'll need in five years time. I hope not, anyway.

Imagine never ever learning the lessons. I hold on to the belief that one day I will learn and remember and won't even need a memo on the freezer door.

But what about lipstick on the mirror? Casually fabulous or hackneyed?

SmitoniusAndSonata said...

Yes , I'm married to a one-man-band myself and remember that well . I longed to be able to pee without someone sitting on my feet asking questions about goldfish , hard sums or why tomatoes were round .
So grab every chance you can to have a break .
And once you're through that 24/7 on call bit that you do with them when they're small , you'll be able to spit on cheesecake any old time that takes your fancy .

Black Eyed Susie said...

I'm glad you're feeling better. I reckon I will go completely bonkers come school holidays. I pulled C out of one day of childcare and so now I have to wait until Friday for a moment. It hurts a bit!

Sooty said...

Sunny says 'me too'
today was childrens day but all sunny wanted and needed was to get the kids into school why couldnt they open the pre school on a holiday ... just this once ??

Anonymous said...

how are you?

Awesome post, just want to say thanks for the share

Anonymous said...

Good point, though sometimes it's hard to arrive to definite conclusions

Anonymous said...

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