Valued Time

March 12^th, 2020 at Noon.

For ME, that is when the world started to change.

I had just pulled up to my gym preparing for my class when I got the email that Catelyn’s soccer tournament in Virginia was canceled.  In the hours that followed I received emails about practices, games, leagues and eventually even the school were being canceled or closed.

All of a sudden, our family had something it didn’t have a whole lot of before.

TIME.

From March 12^th to today, March 30^th I counted: 10 practices have been canceled, 17 soccer/basketball games have been canceled.

This didn’t seem to be a really big number to me, considering.  So, I went back to the beginning of the year and counted.

Hey, I’ve got time to kill here.

From January 1^st, 2020 to March 12^th at 11:59 AM there were 60 practices and 48 games.  That’s 60 practices and 48 games across 71 days.  That averages to 1.52 activities per day. 

This doesn’t even include personal time.  Hang out with friends, time.  Sleep overs.  Dates. Work.  Those hours were strictly sporting related.

We were busy.  And do you know how much driving that is?  Enter audiobooks to help. 

When I look ahead to April the weekends are all booked.  Double booked.  Triple booked with Declan’s High-5 soccer starting.  In the Fall I had agreed to do a run at the end of April.  However, as our schedule continued to unfold, I realized I wasn’t going to be able to make that run.

Just to be clear too – the kids love their schedule.  Bobby loves basketball and plays on multiple teams.  Catelyn loves soccer and enjoys the amount of time she spends on the field (and with her teammates).  The kids are not doing anything they don’t want to do.

So, we agree to drive them to all their events.  We stand on sidelines and sit on bleachers and cheer. 

But, in it all, there was something missing.

Family time.

With that many activities Bob and I were a tag team.  Getting the big kids here, there and everywhere while trying not to upset or disrupt Declan from his preferred activities either, definitely required the both of us.

To compensate, we dedicate three weeks of the year to family time when we can vacation together.  Christmas, summer and our special trip to the shore in the spring.  With the coronavirus, our spring trip was canceled.  The beach is literally closed.

And I don’t even care.

As much as I enjoy listening to the ocean waves and having Easter egg hunts on the beach, I feel like I am getting everything now that I try for on that week.

Family time.

Family walks, family dinners, family game time, family movie nights.  We were forced away from our schedule and, in regard to our family time, it’s been great.

Every coach, every team has already stated any game or practice that has been canceled will be made up at a later date.  The schedule didn’t go away, it just got put on hold.  Catelyn’s soccer coach is chomping at the bit to get his team back together.  So much so each player needs to log 1,000 soccer touches a day and Zoom practices begin this week.

But until our crazy schedule unfolds itself again, I am going to take this time to appreciate what was missing before.

Time as a family.