I don’t like awkward pauses. I’m that person who fills the seven-minute-lull in party conversations with sometimes-funny-sometimes-not remarks.
This school year has been full of awkward pauses as we haven’t been able to develop a rhythm to our days. I’m blaming Junior High. The year started with football before school, leaving the house at 6:30 a.m. Then we had a week or so of 8:30 drop offs before basketball practices started, requiring a 7:20 drop off. Now, we’re back to 8:30.
All this is coordinated around another child who needs to be at school on the other side of town at 7:40. (Or 7:15 for choir one day a week.)
So I usually have 20 to 30 minutes between getting home from one drop off and leaving again for another.
Similar crazy talk happens in the afternoons. Some days, three kids are done at three different times. Usually, the three times are just far enough apart to justify coming home for a 30 minute awkward pause.
Awkward Pause: A chunk of time in my day where I feel like I should do something, but I don’t think I have the time to tackle any of the monumental tasks on my mental to do list.
Awkward pauses once paralyzed me, but I’m learning to use them. Through this deslobification process, I have figured out THE most basic tasks that are necessary to keep my house out of Disaster Status. Turns out, THE most basic tasks aren’t big projects or long, drawn-out, put-on-your-special-cleaning-pants events.
They’re the daily stuff. And the weekly stuff.
Things like emptying the dishwasher and then putting breakfast dishes in it.
Things like switching over the laundry on Monday’s Laundry Day or folding and putting away that last load that is still sitting in the dryer (on Friday).
Things like a five-minute pick-up.
Or whatever else that I have to consciously remind myself to do every single day.
I’ve chosen to embrace the Awkward Pauses and use them as reminders to check something off the Daily Checklist.
When I feel the “Uhhhh, hmmmmm, weeeelllll” feeling, it’s time to work my way through whatever hasn’t happened yet off the list of basics.
Maybe you don’t have an insane drop off schedule to provide you with multiple awkward pauses throughout the day, but here are some other examples (many of which I’ve heard from you):
– waiting for the coffee to brew
-warming breakfast in the microwave
-administering timed quizzes or activities to a homeschooled child
-waiting to help with the next almost-impossible math homework question
-waiting for the shower to get warm
-waiting for the water to boil
Which Awkward Pauses do you find most useful in your day?
Podcast (aslobcomesclean-comfeeddailyaudioblog): Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Podcast listeners click here.
