The start of Five Minute Friday

I am going to start participating in something called Five Minute Friday. One of my favourite blogs, the Gypsy Mama by Lisa-Jo Baker, started it all. Basically a word is given each week, and you write for five minutes about it, whatever comes to your head. Unedited and uncut, just pure thoughts. Then, you post your name/blog link back on the starting page for that week on the Gypsy Mama blog, and read the post by the person before you, leaving them an encouraging comment. Kind of like an inspirational blog chain of sorts.
That might be a little confusing.. if it is, don't worry about it. I just wanted to describe what I was doing for those interested. :)

Today's word is... ORDINARY.

Go!

When I think of ordinary, I think of routine. Mostly of the day-in, day-out life of raising our two little ones right now.. because let's face it, the days are fairly ordinary. I get up to usually one or both of them crying. Change diapers before they both end up with wet pj's and/or wet sheets. Put the water on the stove to boil for oatmeal. Oh, and the water for tea. (though recently, the tea was skipped when Brian found a new espresso machine on Kijiji!)

I have to say, I kind of like ordinary. I am a routine person, really. I like predictable things and I find comfort in things like oatmeal in the morning (or maybe granola, if we're in a hurry). I like the bright spots in the routine.... how John always smiles now when I change his diaper, and how Brian and I get to chat over breakfast and how Bronwen is learning how to use a spoon.

But I also look forward to breaks, to holidays, and lately I have been feeling a bit confined. There's no travelling for us in the horizon, which is a big change from last year when I was all over the country with Bronwen. With 2 kids, that's just not going to happen.

But I just need to embrace the fact that this is the season of life I am in. Find the extraordinary in the ordinary.. in the little things that stand out and make me appreciate everything I have been blessed with.

And I truly am thankful. Because one day, I will travel alone with my husband again and we'll worry about the kids in a whole different kind of way. But we'll still have as much fun as we did when we were newlyweds.. because we stuck together through all those years of holding hands at the breakfast table with the crying kids and the soggy diapers.

Stop!