Time

All school year, I felt incredibly busy. There was always so much to do and not enough time to do it. It was even worse at the end of the year because I was emotionally exhausted, from the work itself and from the ongoing battles with Lila's attitude.

So, for all that busyness, I never felt productive.

Now that summer vacation has begun, I feel incredibly productive. That seems sort of silly to say, since this is only the second official day of our break, but it's true! Without such a busy schedule to follow, I am free to take care of to-do items when they pop into my head.

Two weeks ago, if a to-do item came to mind, I'd groan to myself and walk around an inch shorter from the weight of all the things that needed doing, pressing down on me. Not a good feeling.

I'm sure that some of my productive vigor comes from the many hours I spent on cleaning and organizing this weekend. But the very fact that I've updated my blog for three days in a row, is a clear sign that I'm lighter of mind and schedule!

I'll need to be careful not to overload myself with new and exciting summer plans. I'm full of energy and the thrill of a new season and everything sounds like a good idea. I learned a long time ago, however, never to plan more than two things in a day.

Today, we went to the gym and the library in the morning. We were home in time for lunch, and spent the rest of the day here. That was just right. We still had plenty of time to take care of less-than-exciting daily responsibilities and some simple relaxation.

Now, I need your opinion on something...

I am staunchly anti-e-reader. I want a real, honest paper book. One that I can put my hands on (and never needs charging) (and I don't have to stop breathing if I accidentally drop it) (and I'm incredibly old-fashioned in a lot of ways).

However, Lila has a Kindle Fire. She goes through phases of using it often and then ignoring it for a long time (usually because it needs charging and she can't be bothered to plug it in). Today, she spent most of her day reading books on the thing.

I felt like I should tell her to put it down and find something else to do, but I was torn. If it were a "real" book that she was reading, I wouldn't have given it a second thought. But isn't it really a bad idea to spend hours staring at a little electronic screen?

Or am I being an unreasonable luddite?

At the very least, I should ask her to stop reading and walking at the same time. She's going to hurt herself!