POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

A Very Boring Life

By Nandy Ekle

There was a time when, as a younger woman with three brilliant and combative children, I was convinced my life was boring. I was a stay-at-home mom who literally stayed at home, except when I was driving kids to school, driving to the grocery store, picking up kids from school, and driving kids to appointments.

It seemed like nothing exciting ever happened. To and from the schools, groceries, doctors, library, vacuuming the floor, scrubbing the floor, washing clothes, cooking dinner, bathing kids, and then putting them to bed. Then I would get up late at night/early morning, fight zombies, spiders, and various other monsters that bothered my children at night. The same old day started at 6:00 the next morning.

Yes, I really thought I had a boring life.

Then I watched a movie about my life. The main character was a secret agent for the government and his wife, a plain, average woman just like me, had no idea what he actually did. He had her convinced he sold insurance. She felt like she had a very boring life. Then she had lunch with another man and her husband sees her. So he sets up a little adventure for her.

Anyway, watching this movie taught me some things about myself. In all my cleaning and driving and nurturing, it turns out I am one of the most adventurous women in the world. I realized that not only was I a chef and chauffeur, I was also a referee, a doctor/nurse, “office” manager, banker, bookkeeper, and so on. But that’s old news. Every stay-at-home mom realizes these titles eventually.

The other thing I discovered was that our family was prone to experiences that are, um, unique. Like the time a lizard tail fell out of the dryer. Or the time my dog started barking hysterically at 3:00 in the morning. And how could I ever forget the cars that stopped working while driving down the highway or stopped at a red light. Or the plumbing that backed up. The creative scheduling and emergency shopping for school.

Now, as a mature woman whose children have grown up and flown away, I remember those boring days and think about the tons of stories I lived through.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.