I have always enjoyed my work, and I get a great deal of satisfaction out of it. With that said – I am loving my maternity leave.
In addition to my sheer joy at spending everyday with Yakir, I find myself so much more relaxed when I’m not balancing a million things. I’m sure every working mother out there (and many working fathers) can relate. During my work day, I’m constantly taking stock and juggling. “Ok,” I think to myself, “when I leave work I have 37 minutes before the first kid gets home. Can I fit in a grocery shopping at Rami Levi? How about a quick walk? Oh, but there is laundry to throw in and dinner to make.” It’s a never-ending list of unfinished tasks and choices.
Now, however, I feel like I’ve won the lottery of time. I actually have downtime and extra time to juggle the flurry of tasks at hand each day. Dinner is made in the morning, the grocery shopping is completed, the laundry is finished, and the house is cleaned (ok, the last one isn’t true…but it sounded good as part of the list).
This sense of relaxation and time affords me the opportunity to engage in activities that I would, otherwise, pass up.
For instance…
Yesterday, Yakir and I went into Jerusalem to meet a friend for lunch for her birthday. (What a pleasure!) I was supposed to pick her up at a certain location in Gilo, and I had about 10 minutes to kill while waiting for her. While driving slowly and aimlessly around Gilo, I entered a quiet side street. On the corner was a large school, filled with boys playing during their recess. I watched as one of their balls jumped the 10 foot fence, and went ambling down the street in front of me.
The boys all raced to the gate, looking with desperation and aggravation at the ball sailing hopelessly away from their school. It started down the hill, and I decided that I would go after it.
So, there we were, Yakir and I, charging down the hill in our car after a bright yellow, worn ball. While driving, I was thinking to myself, “What in the world am I doing? and why?” The sheer act of driving behind a ball, waiting for it to stop, made me laugh.
Finally, the ball came to a stop underneath a car. I got out of my car, crawled under the parked car, and retrieved the ball. I could hear a roar of excitement up the street, as the boys were all craning their necks to see the crazy lady saving the day!
With ball underhand, I got back into my car, turned around, drove up to the school, and threw the ball over the fence to my adoring fans.
And that ten minute experience made my day.
Normally, I wouldn’t dream of having the time for such a silly enterprise. I realized afterward that someone from the school would probably, eventually, have left the school grounds to retrieve the ball. I, however, took those extra few minutes that we rarely take, to make a few kids happy and to make myself feel good.
And that, really, is what it’s all about.