Sunday, November 8, 2009

Proclaiming the winner

Hear this, hear this!

I hereby proclaim that I have succeeded in reaching the pinnacle of jogging-related happiness.

Should I never slip on a pair of runners again, I will still die happy in the knowledge that I succeeded in fulfilling my jogging dreams.

Last night I found myself feeling quite unexpectedly cranky. I felt that the weekend was a disappointment. Family members were not doing what I wanted them to do, when I wanted them to do it.

Weekends have always been a challenge for me. There, I said it (I must feel very safe in this bloggy environment).

You understand, as a stay-at-home mother I never knew how to view the weekend. Is it my time of rest and relaxation, or is it my time to embark on an even more hard-working attempt at organising, feeding, pleasing and humouring all family members? In addition, I love schedules and time-tables. Nothing makes me happier than waking up on Monday morning and knowing that the children MUST be in school by 8, Mr. CB must be at work by 9, and I must be at work by 10. This is why I could never, ever home-school my children. It is also why I cannot work from home, and have therefore set up permanent camp in my local libraries.

Where was I? Oh, yes, so now the weekends have changed because I have two teenagers in the house. But I'm still finding it incredibly difficult to match my weekend expectations with reality. Last night I wanted to organise a family activity, but we couldn't all agree on on one. I wanted to have a family dinner, but I wanted someone else to cook it. Then I started becoming highly irritated at the smallest gesture made by any one of my "people." Was that an insolent shrug? Was that an offensive rolling of the eyes? I began to pace from room to room, suddenly noticing all the jobs which still need to be done by my people, dirty clothes, mildewy towels, dog-hairs, overflowing recycling bin, shutters which have been broken, missing toilet paper, bowls left in the kitchen sink with hardened cornflakes stuck on them.

Stop. Breathe. Yoga pose. Ommmmm....

SO THAT'S WHEN I GRABBED MY SHUFFLE, PUT MY RUNNERS ON AND LEFT THE HOUSE.

I did not slam the door, but I almost did.

I ran 8 laps of the beach instead of the usual 6 and I felt like a champion. A CHAMPION I say. I was floating, and I was blasting the music very very loud. I listened to this, and this, but I really got going with this song:




I may have even done some of those sexy dance moves, and a couple of elderly gentlemen walking their dogs got quite a show. Best Saturday night ever.

I returned home to my people energised and buzzing with joy. My people greeted me at the doorway with apologies, hugs, a huge salad and steaks cooking on the barbecue.

MY JOB IS DONE.

I WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

12 comments:

fifi said...

you have no idea how comforting this post is to me...

RW said...

oh eleanor.
I hear you.
and how great you turned it into a win for you.

yeah.

Mary said...

Oh well DONE darling girl!

And what Fifi said

Anonymous said...

It appears that a well-timed disappearance was all it took to bring sanity and wisdom to your family :-)

Frogdancer said...

You just lived the dream, girl!

Anonymous said...

When did you come and steal my Ipod? After this last shuffle it's official: we must go dancing together.
Because I don't do run ...
Congrats on your best Saturday ever!
Paola

eurolush said...

Endorphins! Nothing beats the feeling of utter calm and happiness after a good long run.

There's a point in my runs when all the stresses and worries of my little life seem to float away. It feels so good...and is quite addictive. Runner's high, I guess.

Reading this makes me want to lace up my shoes right now.

Go Eleanor!

trash said...

It is always good to get a win!

blackbird said...

Why did I never consider this when I was a work-at-home mom?!

Jeanette Nord said...

Hurrah for Eleanor! You are the BEST! Oh I can remember how it used to feel.... in a very, very distant past when I used to jog 8 kilometers 3-4 times a week. I even went so far as to set off on my "rounds" in the middle of the night if I had been out and "missed" my usual jogging time. Now that is what endorphins do for you... Have I done it lately? Nope! Do I feel like it? eh, well...maybe. The trouble is that it takes such long time to get to the endorphin stage... Long and painful!

But you are an inspiration!

Take care
Jeanette

KPB said...

Were you reading me when I used to bitch mightily about how hideous the weekends were?

I am still in two minds about the whole weekend caper. Actually no I'm not. For you see Saturday involved being woken at 5am when Oscar got up, 5.15 when Jasper got up, 5.34 when they both came in telling me something, 5.42 when Jasper told me he'd spilt some water, 5.47 when Oscar told me he wanted something to eat, 5.52 when Oscar came and told me he wanted a hot milo, 5.54 when he asked how long he has to microwave it for (he asks me this every morning), and 6.03 when Grover woke up.

Then there was attending a U10s cricket match in the blazing morning sun which ended with two of my children being naked and playing in muddy puddles and another one almost flaking because he was so hot. Then there was ferrying someone to and from drama class.

And all through that they kept wanting to be fed. I mean, FAR OUT.

Weekends blow big meaty chunks.

And clearly I need to start jogging rather than eating potato chips in the laundry to dull the pain.

herhimnbryn said...

You go girl!

Thankou for the kind comment you left on my blog and welcome.