Screw The Vacuuming

There was a lot I needed to be doing this morning. And none of it included sitting on my friend's back porch chatting the day away. I needed to be putting a load of mediums in the wash and folding the two load of clean clothes that have been taunting me for the past 24 hours. I needed to be unloading the dishwasher and loading it back up; vacuuming my floor, making my bed... On and on the goes the list.

Instead, I ignored my chores and sashayed on down the sidewalk. I sat with my friend on her back porch, both of us with a baby on our lap, watching our kids play together.

We talked. Talked about the state of our chests (or lack thereof) post-children. And laughed. Laughed about stuff our kids do and say. And felt sad. Sad because we are both staring down deployments. And navigated. Navigated through the pros and cons of staying here or going home during a deployment.

And then we kept right on talking... We talked about how great our respective husbands are; how much they love their motorcycles and the Air Force. We talked about our neighborhood, where the best thrift stores are, the pros and cons of a tummy tuck, which is the "better" Walmart in town; about how she keeps her house smelling fantastic; and, most importantly, where one finds a canopy for a bed.

Or, in other words... the crucial stuff of life.

Of course we occasionally chided our children; I saved Eliza from consuming whole pieces of sidewalk chalk; she picked up a thrown Elmo toy from the ground twenty-seven thousand times.

It was great. And I didn't even think about how much I had to do at home. Or worry that I would regret the time spent sitting in a lawn chair talking with a friend.

Yes, I came home to a messy house; I had hungry kids to feed and nap time was only 15 minutes away. But I couldn't have cared less.

I needed that time. I needed to laugh and talk and just be a friend.

Why don't I do this more often? Why do I let my routine and my chores and my agenda become blinders to building relationships?

My new motto: Relationships first. Vacuuming second.

On second thought, screw the vacuuming.