Perfectly predictable

Sometimes I am perfectly predictable.  I know in the morning I'll make all the beds,
I know that I'll run through the rituals of getting my children ready for school and out the door.
I know that I'll pour myself a yummy cup of coffee which will lead to two or three more.
I know that I'll pop on the tube and see what's happening in the world each morning. 
I know that I'll have a quick passing chat with my husband as he thinks about his day.
I know that I'll make sure my cats have food, my fish have food, my dog has food,
And then I'll get myself ready for the day.  Sometimes I think these rituals and the passing days
just float past and if I'm lucky and I have no sickness in the house, no injuries in the house, time
passes, weeks pass, months, and now years.  I look at my little girl sometimes and think how
did she grow so tall already.  This little girl I used to carry in my arms and rock to sleep as a baby. 
I can share that same look and sentiment over my son too and if I glance too closely in the mirror
I realize that I'm not just the same either, I have wrinkles that have grown deeper and further across
my face, I have rings under my eyes that weren't there before, and I'm aging too almost without my
knowledge at times.  So where does time go and how can it go so quickly I wonder.  I appreciate that
I will be sad when my children are grown.  I wish I could slow things down, but it's not in my
control really.  Everyone is so caught up in looking ahead that no one seems to mind not living in
the present.  The yearly calendar is filled with holiday events that the stores rush to advertise.  Hell, I
don't know how many people can really stop to enjoy Thanksgiving when the Christmas decorations
went up the day after Halloween.  How anyone can enjoy their Thanksgiving Turkey when all they can
focus on is the big sale tomorrow at their favorite store.  The schools do it too, it's an epidemic. 
It's an epidemic we'll all curse out once we realize we're 80 and where did our life go. 

The Amish may have something on us there when it comes to family time and quiet homes, but I'd have
to admit I don't think I could last longer than a day without electricity!  :) 

In any case, I wish that I could take a break from predictability and be sporadic and unscheduled and free for a week.  A week of trying new things out of the realm of routine.  A week of enjoying my kids without the schedule conflicts, the television, the computer, the telephone ringing, and sit back and enjoy the sound of
the clock as it ticks ever so perfectly and enjoy the length an hour really can take when one is not planned out and scheduled. 

If only.
SJM