Monday, July 19, 2010

Spontaneously Spontaneous

I have a very difficult time with the subject title of this post.  I'm a planner.  I plan everything.  I love plans, the anticipation of doing something planned, executing the perfect plan, perfectly.  It's the way God made me. 

This morning, I caught up on a friend's blog and she wrote about this very thing.  I've known Kirsten for a few years and she just recently started blogging.  She writes EVERY DAY about something that was positive in the day.  She has more dedication and commitment in her pinky toe, than I have in my entire body.  She, seriously, has not missed a day in over 134 days.  Yeah.  Whoa.  Go check her out.

So, Kirsten posted about a magnet that she has on her refrigerator that reads:


Which is oxymoronic and perfectly suits me.  So, I started thinking about spontaneity, and how I never really did have much of that running through my veins, but I had some, a little, before KIDS; spontaneous walks on the beach, dinners out, and romps in the bedroom.  Not everything was planned the way life is planned now.  It begins when baby pops out, and you start planning life around feeding schedules and nap times, and then as baby grows, you start scheduling play dates, and swim lessons, and even nights when you LOCK THE DOOR ::note to Hubs, when I say lock the door, it means, LOCK THE DOOR, not just swing it shut in a hurry - Camdyn's therapist will thank you for this.  kthanks::

And, then I thought about my Friday night, and how there was a flicker, a glimmer, of that little bit of spontaneity left in me. 

It was 8:00, Chloe was nestled in her crib, and the Hubs and Cammer hit the pool for a little evening swim.  She loves to swim when it's starting to get dark and we turn the pool lights on.  I get a massive craving for ice cream.  So, I shake out and run to the Taste d'Lites to grab some soft serve with rainbow sprinkles.  I don't know why I love sprinkles, they don't even have a taste.  But I love them, and I usually ask for double.  I buy two bowls, and bring it home.  Cam eats all of hers in between dives and somersaults in the pool.  I sit on the chaise and finish all of mine, and then I get an idea.  So, after a quick assessment of what I'm wearing,  sadly, nothing that couldn't survive the salt water.  I decide to skip the suit.  I walk over to the edge of the pool, wearing khaki pants and a t-shirt, and a goofy grin, and I cannon ball right in to the water.  When I surface, Camdyn says "MOMMA!!! YOU HAVE YOUR CLOTHES ON!"  And, then she swam over to me, and we turned circles, and laughed and I shivered...because swimming with your clothes on traps cold water next to your body and I was really cold.  Teeth chattering, kinda cold.  So, I started peeling my pants off...they were too heavy to swim in anyway.  Now, the Hubs is beginning to enjoy my spontaneity and he is circling closer and closer to me.  I hold him at a distance with a blue noodle...for a little while. 

So, it's not college crazy spontaneity anymore.  It's not unplanned road trips to the University of Iowa, or last minute flights to Cincinnati, but it'll do. 

It was just enough to make me still feel alive!

12 comments:

Eastlyn and co. said...

Good for you, Carol! I mentioned in my recent picnic post how I am all too quick to shoot down even a simple idea that isn't pre-planned and totally thought out. I consider myself a creative person, and could probably pull of a spontaneous act or two, if I tried a little harder to do so. Thanks for sharing your story. I'm gonna revisit that magnet and come up with something fun!

Anonymous said...

What a great post. A little spontaneity never hurts once in a while :) Oh and I love sprinkles too! I ask for double as well and sometimes an extra cup of them!

And in reply to your comment on my blog: I would be down for a meet up! I feel like we meet all these great mommy bloggers online and will never get to meet them IRL. Although maybe that is a good thing sometimes :) Hope your having a great Monday!

Mama Hen said...

Hey Carol! This is a great post! I love being spontaneous! I find myself really being spontaneous this summer vacation with Little Chick and it is so fun! Sometimes when I plan too much I get anxious about it going as planned. This magnet is great! Try doing little spontaneous things and eventually they will become bigger things! Swimming with your clothes on is fun! Good for you!

Mama Hen

Heligirl said...

Way to go Carol. I love that you were totally spontaneous. How freaking cool is that? It's the little spontaneous things that stand out now, and are so much fun to do. Like chasing each other naked through the house trying not to wake the kids. What? Am I the only one that does that?

Anonymous said...

Loved the post Carol! And thanks for the shout out! It's definitely NOT like the college days, for sure. But we will work on it right? We won't "plan" to be spontaneous. We will just BE.

Karli @ The Bonnie 5 said...

WA HA HA!! Love it! I love doing things like that! :-) Thank you so much for your sweet comments on my blog. They totally made my evening. I also read your letter to your mom; so very sweet. I had to smile because my parents always stashed money around when we lived far away and they came for a visit. Beautiful letter. :-)

LeeAnn said...

I'm a planner too. But since I have had kids I have definitely had to learn to let *some* of that go. I doubt I would jump in the pool fully clothed, though. Only because I would hate the way my wet clothes felt! LOL

And, um, if you and Torie are meeting up...I am totally going to crash that little party! And I'll even bring Rylie to make sure it gets crazy! :-)

Sassy said...

Great post! I am also a planner but I hate monotony so we always try to be a little spontaneous. (Or as much as we can be with three almost four kids!) :)

EZ said...

This is such a great post and an inspiring one at that! I have always been a planner and now it's just gotten worse since I had Katie. I need to maybe start implementing some spontaneity in my life!

Colleen (Shibley Smiles) said...

Darn I entered everything and hit post then x'd out of my internet and saw the word verification. So I had to come back to post again.

I LOVE this post. I love that you jumped in the pool with your clothes on, I don't think I would have thought of that but my kids would have loved it. So cool!

I'm the opposite I am the most unstructured unplanned person there is. I hate following a plan I like to do things when I want to do things. Not always the best habit to have when you have kids!

Unknown said...

Ha! Love this. You are right we think a lot a like. Fun how many of our minds circle around the same things in just a little different voice. Thanks for your comment and sharing this post. Cute - It would have been fun to capture a photo of you jumping in!

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