Not Every Day I Get to Be a Monster

This week, as a representative for SOAR Regional Arts, I attended a women's networking meeting. I had no idea what to expect and felt a bit anxious. What if they required me to introduce myself and talk about SOAR? Even though I've been keeping up with SOAR since we moved to Saint Michael, I was afraid they would want to know more than I knew.

It turned out my worries were groundless, which was a relief. There were seven other women in attendance, and two were also attending for the first time. The group appears to be very fluid. Women come as their schedules allow. I had a terrific time and found each person to be gracious and kind during the time we spent together.

It was a terrific first outing as a representative of SOAR. Next week I am attending two more meetings. One is a networking luncheon, and the second is a community foundation meeting on philanthropy.

I work five hours a week with SOAR business, which allows me plenty of time for family and friends. Today I spent about an hour and a half with Megan and Oliver. When he saw me, he ran to me to be picked up, which touched my heart. We played with new small board books he has added to his toy collection. Our idea of play is not reading. It is instead unzipping the soft plastic container they are stored in and tipping all of the books out onto the floor. I stack the books on each other, and Oliver gleefully knocks them down. We also played putting the books into the bag and dumping them out again. Over and over.

We also played "monster eats the baby," a game his loving, sweet, kind Grandma made up on the spur of the moment. Oliver stands across the room by his large playpen. The playpen has stretchable webbed fabric. He sticks his head in the webbing and looks at me. I say, "Hi Oliver, I see you!" in a gruff, monstery voice. He smiles. I say, "I am going to get you!" He runs into my arms, and I pretend I am eating him up. We did this five or six times and both had lots of fun. Not every day I get to be a monster.

Not that I advocate eating babies. It is just a pretend game full of love and smiles. God knows what I am teaching this sweet little boy. Maybe it is as simple as it is okay to be silly no matter how old one is.

Joe is getting the hang of retirement. I was a bit concerned for him at first. He is learning, though, that it is okay to relax a bit. Yesterday he moved some artwork for me. By now he knows when I want to move a piece, it usually means three or four other pieces will follow. He was incredibly patient when it meant getting a tall ladder from the garage to hang a photo on the landing above the main level half bath. A job he thought would take five minutes easily turned into 45 minutes.

While he was moving and rehanging pieces in the entryway, it dawned on me that since moving into our home in April 2024, I have not repositioned any furniture. At our age, it is probably better that it is only artwork I am wanting to move around. Though I have been playing with a new idea for the living room layout...

Maybe that is what I am learning in this season of life. It is okay to walk into new rooms even when I feel unsure. It is okay to be a little silly, to make space for joy, and to change things up now and then, even if it starts with something as simple as moving a picture on the wall. Little moments, small risks, and a willingness to laugh seem to be more than enough for a pretty good day.