I’m trying out something new: a weekly theme. Just one day a week–to see if I like it.
For me, this theme is incredibly rich with possibilities. I can’t begin to recount all the times in my life when I’ve begun a sentence with the words: “Do you think I should be worried about…..”
When I say this to V, he gives me a look–a combination of a deer caught in the headlights–while rolling his eyes. This look is a useful reality check, and a reminder that I married a WASP who doesn’t know the meaning of the word “worry”.
Although I could completely imagine converting this entire blog over to this one theme, I’ll just confine myself to one day a week. I won’t confine myself when it comes to the worries. I’ll roll with it and see what happens. It could be a worry from the past, present, or future—or all three.
I don’t want to scare anyone off. So I’ll start small.
You don’t even have to be a Jewish mother to get this one.
I am assuming that every parent does what I’ve always done as soon as you hear a siren. No matter where you are, what time of day, your mind frantically catalogues the immediate whereabouts of your children (and maybe your husband if you have a good relationship). You calculate the probabilities that any of them could be passengers in the ambulance. And the incidence of worry doesn’t totally disappear until you know they’re safe–just one of those things that comes with the parental territory.
Lately I’ve learned there’s light at the end of this tunnel. The end of siren-stress. It’s called the empty nest–and it puts a very positive spin on the benefits of having your kids move out of town.
There’s even more benefit—and more light– now that I wrote about it. Maybe I can magically limit my worrying just to Wednesdays. Hah. But even releasing one little worry at a time–out into the universe–or the internet—makes me feel better. And lighter.
Maybe you’ll try it–and let me know if Wednesday Worry works for you, too.
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