A forced slow down.

Any runner will admit, if only to themselves, that when they get to a stop light and the cross walk turns red, they're secretly relieved. Take a breather, stretch it out, refocus. Unless you're one of those who actually competes to win (and I mean more than your age group in a local charity 5k), the required break isn't really an option. So you might as well enjoy it.

Kids are like that I think. Like breaks for your life. Yes, you're very busy but it's with the details. The overall picture slows down and you start to enjoy the process again. It's hard to be anywhere on time. Add two infants and I've started using "ish" a lot when describing our plans. As soon as you make peace with the idea that a 4 hour trip to town solely to get milk is how you will spend your afternoon, the important things become a little more obvious. It's definitely taken some emotional adjusting, and I absolutely still rebel at the inefficiency but making your daily agendas about having fun along the way and not just checking off a to-do list can be, if you let it, pretty freeing. Our weekends used to fill up months in advance. Now we actually have conversations about what we'd like to do that day.

It took two kids and over a year but I feel like I'm letting go. A little. :)

"What do you want to do this afternoon."
"How about a walk."
"Perfect."