Bubble Baths and Me Time

I remember the days of interruptions, squabbling children, meals to fix, housecleaning, laundry, endless hours of being a mother, housekeeper, bookkeeper, cook and chauffer, all on top of working outside the home at a full-time job.

So many times I longed for peace and quiet…a few hours to rest quietly and regain energy. Usually those moments were found in a bubble bath behind a bathroom door that didn’t lock. During two plus years of that time, there were studies for a college degree.

How did I manage? It seems God gives us the strength to persevere and endure. I hear many young mothers complaining and longing for respite. Perhaps it is a perpetual desire for “me” time.

I have all the “me” time I could ever desire in this stage of life. If only I could have foreseen this time coming and all it meant, I might have taken more pleasure in the hectic years of raising a family. Or not. For there was little free time to think what the future might hold.

Quiet surrounds me. I hear only the tapping of the keyboard and the sound of raindrops on the window of this rainy morning. I talk to myself because I need to hear the sound of voices.

I sip my tea in silent pleasure and wish my husband would wander to the doorway to read me something from the morning newspaper. I miss his voice. I miss his embraces. I miss the warmth of his body next to mine in the bed at night. Despite these things, life moves on. And God continues to provide strength to persevere and endure.