SLOW SUNDAYS

The weeks lately have been hectic, I say weeks but it's probably been more months if I'm being entirely honest. I spoke about it briefly on Instagram, you know the analogy of being a duck seemingly gliding through the water but actually beneath the surface they're furiously pedalling with no signs of slowing down. That's me, I'm the duck. There isn't one specific thing nor are there any huge reasons as to why life is so full on right now, it just is and with Noah about to break up for school break in just over four weeks, I know it's going to get a whole lot busier, so with that in mind I wanted to really flick the brakes on and try and appreciate the art of slow living, even if my version of slow is more like a canter.


June was always going to be a bit crazy, with Patrick turning two and me hitting twenty six (yikes) followed by a holiday, I knew things weren't going to be boring but I'm not sure I appreciated just how much stuff we'd have to do. Thankfully we're on the run up to our holiday now and whilst packing is way more stressful that I remembered it being, I know that's a first world problem and that our lovely break away is looming. This weekend I just wanted to take it easy, get the house in order and potter around doing odd jobs - though with two restless boys is that ever an option? It seems a liberty to keep them couped up, I know past me who was knee deep in snow a few months ago would have been screaming at myself to get out and enjoy the sunshine, but I just wanted to rest and get organised. My boys of course had other ideas and after screeching 'can you just leave him alone?' for the umpteenth time, I decided enough was enough, with our trust national trust memberships we headed for the fresh air.

It wasn't the most calming walk in the park, after evading his afternoon nap little Patrick decided every time something didn't go his way he would stamp and shout, generally causing fresh hell amongst all the more reserved national trust go-ers. The looks were interesting, my mood wasn't improving, I was starting to wonder if a member of staff would appear from the bushes and snap our membership cards right in front of us as I'm certain we were decreasing the value of the place by our sheer existence. It was not a pretty sight. But within moments storm Patrick blew over and we were free to (finally) enjoy the rest of the day.

I'd almost forgotten what it's like to have such a slow day, not race around and feel compelled to tick off a thousand boxes on a never ending list. No supermarket visits were needed for once, thank goodness as have you ever ventured into Asda on a weekend with two kids, I'm sure it's the ultimate challenge of motherhood and patience. The boys enjoyed ice creams, whilst I stared and winced at just how much was getting all over their brand new raincoats, though the neurotic in me managed to hold back and let them devour them in peace, we watched the swans swim up and down the river, we even had one come so close in search of food, that we could have touched it. All in all it was a beautiful afternoon, the boys slept well with fresh air in their lungs and I felt as though I'd participated in my own day for once, rather than it floating by and me attempting to grab at it.

The weekend just feels that much more satisfying when I know we've took time to slow down and enjoy it. This month the others have whizzed by in such a blur that I've barely had time to notice, our holiday has ever so quickly crept up on us and I know that it too will fly by in a hurry and I'll be resigning myself to the first choice website till we get something else booked in this year. I want to learn to appreciate the little things, the things I'm missing because I'm busy focusing on getting things done or capturing a moment on camera. I'm slowly, slowly but surely learning to whack those breaks on when life is bumbling by at a thousand miles an hour, and it feels pretty damn good.