Don’t panic. It’s all just a phase.
Today’s daily prompt is “phase”, which is appropriate for this blog given that it is all about transition from one phase (a very stable, predictable, and ordinary phase) into a period filled with new, exciting, and quite unknown ones.
I never really thought much about things happening in phases before becoming a parent but now it’s something I think about a lot because the rule that I now live by is this: Everything is a phase. Throwing food on the floor at every meal? It’s a phase. Refusing to get dressed? It’s a phase. Rubbing yoghurt into everything? Yup, a phase. And the current one (which does drive me a little crazy): throwing every toy in the box over your shoulder? Aarrgh! But it’s okay because it’s just another phase.
Acknowledging new behaviours as temporary explorations into new experiences and knowing they will pass is how I get through life with a lively and creative two-year-old. What’s curious about them is they drive me crazy when I’m in the midst of them and then pass without me noticing, so one mealtime I’ll suddenly notice that it’s been a while since the food got thrown or rubbed into the table cloth. Those are the ah-hah moments when you can breathe a sigh of relief and look back fondly on those trying but times.
Thinking about things this way is a good life lesson, relevant more than ever during this year of change ahead. Who knows exactly where we’ll be in a year’s time? Am I quietly freaking about not having a house to move to, having mountains of clutter to sell/donate/throw out, and spending about a tenth of the time on French language lessons as I’d like. Hell, yes, I am. But I spend most of my days with a baby strapped to my chest and there’s only so much anyone can get done like that. It will get done because things always get done in the end. It’s all just a phase. I know that in a year from now I’ll be sitting somewhere in the France – maybe in my own home, maybe in a rental place – pondering a new to-do list, possible with both hands-free while my two babies potter around me. A new phase is always round the corner and that’s what makes life exciting!
