I’m surprised at the freedom I’m feeling after deciding not to add a daily quote to this blog. Doing something daily, which means every day, implies responsibility. Not a bad thing, nor something always to be avoided. When I had children, I signed up for the daily; for years my two kids appeared daily, until they began to gain independence. Teaching kindergarten and first grade was another daily affair; not just the everydayness of it, but the intensity of each day. Never in my life have I had to be present to twenty or so people for six hours a day, five days a week during the school year, as I did as a teacher of young children.
Now that I’m older I have fewer daily obligations, and none as intense as parenting or teaching. I have my household routines, I put a meal on the table most evenings, I visit people who don’t get out much, I have church and family obligations. But, my schedule is leisurely, and at whim I can cancel any one of them and lie on the couch and read a book. I love this retirement schedule because when I look back I know, without a doubt, that being a mother and teaching were the happiest times in my life.
Now that I’m older I have fewer daily obligations, and none as intense as parenting or teaching. I have my household routines, I put a meal on the table most evenings, I visit people who don’t get out much, I have church and family obligations. But, my schedule is leisurely, and at whim I can cancel any one of them and lie on the couch and read a book. I love this retirement schedule because when I look back I know, without a doubt, that being a mother and teaching were the happiest times in my life.