I Didn't Go to the PTA Meeting
This is an EPIC week in the Ladd house.
Lifa is involved in 1,923 sports and extra-curricular activities. (He used birthday money to buy a fitness tracker watch and logs a unfathomable amount of steps every day.) We launched an amaaaaazing Help Club for Moms on Monday evening. Chris is preaching for two morning services on Sunday while Lifa and I serve at church. And we are launching a young adults service on Sunday evening. Oh - and don’t forget Mr. Independent Benjamin. He’s got places to go, dangerous things to put in his mouth, and food to eject from his mouth with amazing velocity. I’m currently watching him play in the soil from a tree in our living room.
I started filling in our weekly refrigerator calendar on Saturday - because that’s what I do. I obsessively make colorful calendars while normal people relax. With many colors of erasable pens. I quickly realized that from Sunday - Sunday, our family would only have 1 night together at the dinner table. Our evenings were filled with a neighborhood gathering, Help Club, pastoral Skypes, rugby practice, a PTA meeting and church.
Lifa’s awesome chalkboard art to celebrate Chris’ preaching for Sunday.
The proof is in the pudding... or on the refrigerator door: We are so blessed. We are surrounded by God’s faithfulness in our lives. And we feel kinda busy.
Last night, I threw a Ladd family flag. I called a timeout. It was only Tuesday, but we had already been to athletics, rugby, and tutoring that day. I was waiting on Chris to get home from church so I could turn around and get out the door in time to go to the PTA meeting. Instead of trying to turbo-mom like I did the night before and get the baby down before dashing out, I sent a message letting Lifa’s class parents and teacher know I wouldn’t be at the meeting. I told Lifa that being involved with his teacher and school was very important, and I would schedule a meeting during the day with the teacher. But having time with the family all together would always be the most important.
Instead of going to a PTA meeting, I cut up a watermelon, cooked a meal the boys love, let Benjamin have some extra time with Dad, and we sat outside for an easy dinner on a beautiful night. We talked about square roots, math with letters, and what college was like. We all went to bed feeling ready for the big week. Before we fell asleep, Chris thanked me for keeping us all home together. He felt valued and like our family had been chosen first. And that was the greatest win.
Some take time to stop and smell the roses. Benjamin takes time to stop and taste the leaves.
I like to make calendars to keep our household flowing smoothly and give at least a semblance of organization. The most beneficial part about making calendars, however, is what is reveals about our values. What we spend our time on reflects what we treasure.
Not every day - but most days - we have a choice. We choose what lifetime legacy we want to write one calendar square at a time. The PTA is important, but the greatest win was not doing that one more thing for Lifa. It was looking him in the eye across the dinner table and confessing that I don’t actually remember anything about square roots.
We don’t do it right every day. But we always get a fresh calendar square when we wake up the next day.
