“Mommy, want to watch me bubble?”
My three-year-old asked me sweetly as I was walking by.
Immediately, I felt torn.
It was a Saturday morning in the midst of my prep season for my busiest time of year. I had a rare day with several hours set aside to actually work. I’m already my kids primary caregiver. We go to co-op schools. I’m around them all the time. It’s a priority to me to be as present as possible for them during these formative years.
Like all of us, I contain multitudes.
I’m also a creative and a business woman. I have keynotes to prep. Speakers to rehearse with. I have flights to book. Travel to prep. Contracts to return. Workshops to edit. Mind-numbing forms to fill out. Submissions to finalize. Videos to edit. Articles to write.
In addition, I’m a fitness enthusiast. I exercise almost daily to help my body feel strong and my brain feel balanced. In this moment, I had just gotten back from an intense exercise at my sweat-filled studio. I was cathartically sticky, felt physically gross, and in desperate need of a shower.
Oh, and I run our household. Outside of the kids, I’m caregiver for two pampered pups and more indoor plants than a busy person should have. I had dogs to walk, feed, and pet. Plants needed propogation, repotting, food, and water. Toys strewn about the house needed to be put away.
My busines inventory was low. There were random items to categorize and order. I had to finally put the toilet paper into the holder rather than beside it. Maybe clean up the random wet towels my one goofy pup loves to steal when wet to rub his face into.
Plus, I’m a community activist. By accident and intention, I’ve become the driving force spearheading a bigger educational movement to my own public school district. There’s a small team of us, but we all need to be responsive and consistent to keep the movement progressing.
I am all those things.
And…I’m a mom of young children.
My daughter’s grasp of language is impressive. But she still speaks with little kid perspectives that make my heart melt. It wasn’t “Watch me play with bubbles.” It was “Watch me bubble.”
Bubble was the verb. And a perfect one at that.
The day before this request, she delighted in finding a big bubble wand that somehow was still filled with solution. A rare snag in a home where most things get dumped out or broken within 24-48 hours. She was amped.
She stood on the patio simply blowing the bubbles and laughing at them. And she wanted me to share in that joy.
I had a choice.
So I said…eff it all. And I sat with her. I sat there for a long while and stared at her blowing bubbles, acting just as surprised at each little circle as she was. We reveled in the colors that shimmered around these temporary floating shapes. And I rooted for her as she attempted to catch or pop them.
Soon, she handed me the bubble wand, insisting it was my turn to blow them. Despite the stress and work hanging over me — and the knowledge that each minute spent here eats into my extremely rare work time in this season of life — I decided to just blow bubbles.
Turns out, the bubbles were like a meditation
The deep inhales and the slow, directed exhales were good for my body. Watching my daughter run around uninhibited was good for my soul. Listening to her bright squeals was good for my energy.
I stayed with her for as long as she was interested. I flowed into the moment and let the presence of it all flow through me. She gave me an opportunity and I took it. And we were both grateful
This was a rare stolen moment without responsibilities sneaking in. Mommy was happy to just be around her. She was happy to share the moment with mommy.
The other stuff could wait. It was time to bubble.
