Life in the Slow Lane

Admittedly, I enjoy the hustle and bustle that comes with the preschool crowd and having more than one kid in the house--the fitting three field trips into one weekend, the playing board games and hide and seek and kickball for long stretches of time, the (I never thought I'd say it) nightly rounds of 20 questions at the dinner table. The past four weeks have not held such high energy days. With Little Guy here by himself, we are a family in the slow lane. Everything moves slower. The slow life is different, but it is still good. It is carefully watering about 50 new plants using a 1/2 cup measure--twice. It is chasing the same plastic alligator around the tub every night. It is feeding the cats by putting about 10 pieces of food in a cup and then into their bowl over and over. It is singing the same toothbrushing song every time teeth are brushed. It is speaking in one word sentences for the bulk of the day. It is reading the same 2 books every single night since Curly and Sister left. It is early to bed and not even early to rise. It is stick a nap in the middle there and get a lot done. It is rolling cars up and down the hallway on hands and knees over and over and over again. It is endless games of peek a boo. It is different, but it is fun. And soon enough, I imagine, I'll be wishing for just a day or an hour back in the slow lane.