At any given moment there is a mom somewhere curled up on the couch with a good book (Twilight, anyone?).  Her dishes pile up in the sink, errands wait to be done, and the kids are playing…or fighting…in the other room.  She looks up to tell them to behave, then buries her nose back into the book.  Is there a more productive way for her to spend her time?  Sure.  Could her kids and house benefit from a bigger piece of her attention?  Naturally.  Is she being a bad mom?  Absolutely not.  She is instead widening her eyes, broadening her horizons, feeding her heart and brain.  She’s taking the time to regroup, she’s pacifying that part of her that is tired of being mom.  She’s stretching the muscles of her imagination.  She’s relaxing.  She’s remembering old feelings or creating compassion for those yet unfelt.  She’s being woman first, wife and mom second, if just for a while.  And the icing on the cake is that she’s also teaching her children without even trying.  She’s teaching them that people- even moms- have their own things to do.  Their own time to fill, their own lives to lead.  She’s teaching them that sometimes its okay to set the world aside and take care of yourself.  And she’s teaching them that a little stack of papers bound together holds something magical inside.

So today, instead of phase 2 in my spring cleaning marathon, I’m going to grab a blanket and a snack, and spend a few hours this afternoon curled up with a good book.

photo credit: shaycam