Responsibility

Lily's first day of Kindergarten.

Responsibility seems to be a theme all around me these days. At times, I am overwhelmed by the amount of things and people I am responsible for. But I realize I am not alone.


Take Lily for example. She has a kitty cat now (we’ll save that story for later). She is responsible for feeding him, cleaning the litter box, putting him away during meals, picking up his toys and teaching him how to behave in our house. That is quite a lot to ask a five-year-old. And yet she is rising to the challenge. Once a sleepy head, Lily is now up on time - motivated by the needs of her kitty, Sunny.

The candidates and political supporters are talking about responsibility; both personal accountability and our collective responsibility for our country, our spending, our future, our commitments.

Buck and I have financial responsibilities – the kind that lives in the “need” column, and a long list in the “want” column.

Responsibility is kicking my butt. I feel it more now than I have in a long while. The kids have started new chapters in their education and personal development. They need more of me. My professional career needs more of me. My home needs a lot more of me – especially those baseboards. My body needs more – more good food, more exercise, more sleep. I need more of me.

I used to feel like I had time to meet all of these responsibilities. But in this moment, I feel like it all needs to be done now. The homework and work-work have deadlines, after all. The bills, too. Dinner is going to come every night. And the project list is only getting longer.

So what to do and feel about all of this responsibility? Blessed, I suppose. Inspired, maybe. Exhausted would be more truthful.

This weekend Grandma and Grandpa are coming to town. Buck and I are going away for a couple of days – escaping responsibility for a brief moment. Although it ‘ll be these very same responsibilities that will motivate us to hurry back home - to our children, our laundry, our emails, our dog – and our cat. But maybe we will feel just a wee bit lighter, if just for a moment.