Or with slime, Lao Tzu.
Sometimes the journey begins with slime.
I'm not sure how things go down at your house, but at the Brewington/Douglas residence, not a day goes by in which I'm not having a slime-related argument with my 9 year old.
"Amira, stop playing with that slime and come and eat!"
"Amira, stop using all of my Tupperware on slime!"
"Amira, turn off the slime videos, pick up a book, and read!"
Today was no exception.
As I sat in our dining room-cum-bedroom reading a book, Amira sat beside me, playing with what I thought was a rubber ball. I was wrong. Mere seconds after picking it up, Amira poked a hole into this toy and watched helplessly as green slime oozed all over our bed sheets.
"Whoops, sorrrryyyyyy!" she exclaimed, stifling a small giggle as I lifted my head up to Jesus, closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before answering her. "It's ok, it's ok" I muttered. "But get up so I can change these sheets."
After stripping the sheets off of the futon, I realized that the slime had seeped right through the thin mattress that Amira and I have been sleeping on for the past 21 months.
But instead of flipping the mattress over, or allowing it to air dry, I dragged it from its wooden frame and let it lie on the floor.
And then I did something that shocked me as much as it shocked Amira.
After examining the frame for less than a minute, I adjusted the screws and folded the futon back into a reclining position.
Amira stared at the now sofa in shock.
"Mama, what are you doing?"
"It's time, Babe. It's time to go back to our bedrooms and our big, comfy beds."
"What!?" She exclaimed. "But Mama..."
"And if you're not ready to go back to your own room yet, that's okay, you can sleep in my room with me. But we can't sleep in the dining room anymore, Amira, because it's time."
I let the rest of that sentence go unsaid as we both knew what I meant. Time to unhitch ourselves from the fantasy of our lives ever going back to "normal". Time to accept reality and start moving forward again. And for a first step, we didn't have that far to go. Just a few feet down the hall to my bedroom, which is where I sit right now, listening to Amira snoring peacefully beside me.
And believing that we may actually have a chance at getting through this thing after all.
After stripping the sheets off of the futon, I realized that the slime had seeped right through the thin mattress that Amira and I have been sleeping on for the past 21 months.
But instead of flipping the mattress over, or allowing it to air dry, I dragged it from its wooden frame and let it lie on the floor.
And then I did something that shocked me as much as it shocked Amira.
After examining the frame for less than a minute, I adjusted the screws and folded the futon back into a reclining position.
Amira stared at the now sofa in shock.
"Mama, what are you doing?"
"It's time, Babe. It's time to go back to our bedrooms and our big, comfy beds."
"What!?" She exclaimed. "But Mama..."
"And if you're not ready to go back to your own room yet, that's okay, you can sleep in my room with me. But we can't sleep in the dining room anymore, Amira, because it's time."
I let the rest of that sentence go unsaid as we both knew what I meant. Time to unhitch ourselves from the fantasy of our lives ever going back to "normal". Time to accept reality and start moving forward again. And for a first step, we didn't have that far to go. Just a few feet down the hall to my bedroom, which is where I sit right now, listening to Amira snoring peacefully beside me.
And believing that we may actually have a chance at getting through this thing after all.
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