Time With Boy
11 Dec
Big kid on a little playground
I went on a field trip today with Joey’s third grade class. And I had fun — I can’t say I’ve totally enjoyed many past class excursions, because work was always hanging over my head. I’d end up consumed by the tasks awaiting me at home, I’d see e-mails and text messages stacking up on my phone, I’d basically feel guilty for skipping out on work and guilty for not offering my full and undivided attention to my child.
But today, in all of my unemployed glory, there was nothing I needed to do except join a bunch of excited kids at the Thomas Center for a tour, a picnic-style lunch on the floor of this nearly 100-year-old historical building (once a family home, then hotel, then site of Santa Fe Jr. College) and watch in the freezing cold as kiddos ran wild on a nearby playground.
Life since quitting my job is a bit more budgeted — not many out-to-eats and most frivolous purchases have been nixed — but for all the pennies we are pinching, I must say I feel quite rich, because the time I have available for enjoying all of life is so much more abundant. And so what if Joey thinks our adventure this morning was “boring” — I liked it, we learned something, we were together and by golly, I was present — not just in body, but in spirit, too. And in my little corner of the world, that is a really big deal.
