The Light

There's stress and then there's stress. Sometimes it's a huge major life event, sometimes it's just the sheer magnitude of regular daily things that pile up all at once. We've been riding the waves of the latter.

For me, it's been threefold. Last week I was back to work after spring break - stressful enough...but also frantically trying to pull the pieces together for my first and second grade programs. Assigning parts, learning the final songs, checking to see if kids have learned their lines, planning rehearsals (which under my current schedule means filling up planning and lunch time with more practice) and having nightmares about the shows being a disaster. This week, I was able to scale back on some of the extra rehearsals, but all my afternoons and evenings have been taken up with playing in the pit of the High School's production of "Little Women" which begins tonight. So I've had like ZERO down time, free time, me time. But seriously, how can I complain about that - while I've been sitting in the pit sometimes bored, Steph's been at home with all 4 kids ALL WEEK on her own. She had plenty of family and friend help to get her through but still - it's a long haul when you're the only one there.

So, it's been a rough couple of weeks.

But...today...I think the proverbial corner has been turned, for myself anyway. Not sure if it's the fact that the weather here in Cincy has finally shifted from early spring to late spring and summer is slowly awakening...or the fact that my long days of pit rehearsals are done now, or the fact that as of yesterday, ALL my 1st graders have learned all their lines, but I feel lighter today. Which is amazing to consider when I think that I still have 3 shows to play, still have both of my OWN programs to go through, that I still have to cram 70-80 1st graders into my room this afternoon to practice again, and that there are still about 10 of those first graders who cannot understand why I get angry when they talk to their friends, lay down, run around the room, and push each other during the songs (the look of innocent shock is priceless...even the 4th and 5th time). I still feel better. Amazing. Just goes with my theory that stress is simply your brain on overload - something seems stressful when you've got a lot going on, but then if you suddenly eliminate JUST enough of the other things, the logjam is removed and it doesn't seem so bad. I guess I just got things under that critical mass.

So, still a ways to go to get to the other end of this 3 week crazy train...but I feel better about getting through it now.

Matt