Itchy, Itchy Rash

The Child is suffering from some odd "histimine reaction" which means that she is at home and on Benadryl. The doctor doesn't want to see her unless she breaks out in massive welts or has difficulty breathing. I have not changed our laundry soap or any other product that comes in contact with her tender skin so what is making her so itchy is a mystery. It might, I suppose, be some reaction to the transition between winter and spring. Owing to the miracle of better living through chemistry, she is fine as frog's hair at the moment and using the time to get ahead in her studies. What a concept.

Time is a precious commodity. If I've been learning anything this Lent it has to do with my use of time, or the misuse thereof. I am ridiculously good at wasting time. I did some confronting of that fact during the past week and hit the ground running yesterday. I cleaned and wrote, baked and read, gardened and prayed. I did all this despite the fact that my plans were altered when I had to retrieve an itchy Child from school. Part of my success owed to my timer and routines. Part of it owed to sheer determination. I like having something to show for my day, even if I'm the only one who notices. I don't need monumental accomplishments. A few lines written here, a loaf of bread there will suffice. I don't even necessarily need to be able to see a result, so long as I have the knowledge that I moved an inch closer to one.

Be clear: I think that frittering away time, vegging out, chilling - whatever you want to call it - is an important part of maintaining sanity. I do not understand people who are always on the go, never take a breath while they pile up accomplishment on top of accomplishment without taking time to savor what they've done. Or without pausing to make sure that what they are doing is worth doing. Fortunately, I'm not one of those people.

I'm the perfect Libra in this sense...I like balance. I strive for poise. Which is not to say that I'm poised, although I can pretend to be. But I adore the notion of balance, a poise between rest and accomplishment. I like finding quiet in the midst of noise and I like to keep the quiet honest with a little rattle and hum.

Of course, one has a better chance of balancing life in the aggregate. Day to day can be harder to manage. I could be "thrown off balance" by the presence of The Child or, if I wanted, by the fact that it's raining so my garden momentum is quashed. But I'm not going to be. I like myself better when I don't make excuses.