Recuperation Day

The day after a big project is over (like VBS), I usually give our little family a "day off"--a Recuperation Day, I call it.  The funny thing about Recuperation Days is that they're usually worse than whatever you're trying to recover from!

There are some legitimate reasons for this.  First is the energy letdown.  After exerting so much energy into any activity, it is natural for the body to crash.  Mine crashes hard.  Same with my kids.

The second is the catching up that faces you: groceries, laundry, dishes.  Everything that got pushed to the side suddenly shows up right in front of you and seems overwhelming all at once.  

Today had a special trial: I've lost my bracelet.  My special bracelet.  The one I've written about and love dearly.  Have no idea what happened to it.  I had it Sunday, put it on the kitchen counter when I replaced the piston in my washer, seem to remember one of my kids coming up to me with it, telling them to put it back . . . gone. 

I have come up with two possible solutions.  Either I threw it away with the recycling, which is hard to believe, but the only thing I can imagine, or whichever kid had it put it somewhere odd and it's waiting for Mommy to stumble upon it sometime in the future. 

I was a little worked up about it, to say the least.  Finally, I sat in my room and practiced a form of self-accupuncture my counselors introduced me to last week.  It worked.  The wild emotions went away. 

I was still sad and frustrated--mostly with myself--but I was calm.  I sat down with my kids and let them know that, as much as I loved my bracelet, what was most important was what it represented: them.  I have them, and that's what matters.  We "hugged it out," as my sister says. 

We slogged through the day as best as we could and finished up with an after-supper swim (my solution to all the troubles in my world!). 

I'd like to take a second to say my little boy is a fish!  At four, he is swimming underwater, doing both the crawl and the breast stroke underwater.  His frog kick is a little wonky, but he just started this week!  I am totally impressed.  I KNOW I did not swim that well at 4. 

And his sister is determined to keep up with him.  She is practicing holding her breath and "swimming" under my outstretched arms.  It's more like she dunks under the water and I move my arms so she thinks she did it, but I'm proud of her all the same.  Talented kids, those kids of mine!

And now it is time to sleep . . . to recuperate from Recuperation Day!