Dancing Through The Noticing Place
An afternoon of overwhelm paves the way for a new stress response (plus a soundscape that drops you right into my kitchen!)
90 minutes and a trip to the dollar store, the post office and Sprouts later, the boys and I are back home. The trunk and the passenger seat are packed full of groceries, and even though it’s 104 degrees out, I decide to leave all the bags in the car for now. I unload my sons first, usher them into the air-conditioned house. My six-year-old is fussy and disappointed by our “no fun” outing. My seven-month-old is restless and hungry. I sit down to nurse and turn on a new favorite song. I tune into the rhythms, the melody, get lost in the lyrics. A quick pick-me-up before the afternoon whirlwind continues to blow through.
The baby finishes, and I set him down in the Pack ‘n Play with my dusty rose robe so that, much like a puppy, he can snuggle with my soft stand-in while I return to my chores. My six-year-old climbs into the small play area draped in my old black robe to keep his brother company. My two boys and their Mama Robes.
I grab the keys and head back outside to my car. The makings of our breakfasts, lunches and dinners for the next seven days are divided into these twenty bags. I slip the handles onto my forearm like big, bulky bangles, and I set everything down in the kitchen in only two trips. Before I can put the new groceries away, I want to clean out the refrigerator. The boys are still playing pleasantly, and it feels like I have the time. I gather a few Tupperware containers of leftovers and set them next to the sink that’s already overflowing with the dirty dishes I didn’t get to before we left. I pluck sprigs of wilted scallions and two stalks of shrunken broccoli to add to the backyard compost. A few swipes of the sponge later, and I’m ready to arrange the fresh bounty inside. When the cold items are packed away, I move over to the pantry. As I’m restocking our staples, my husband texts me that he’s wrapping up work at the coffee shop and he’s wondering about lunch.
“Just got back from the store. Will probably do wraps.” I respond.
I open up the fridge again and find the cheese, mayo, honey mustard, cucumbers, turkey right where I just left them. I see we still have some leftover homemade tomato basil soup, so I decide to add that to our lunch menu, too.
For your listening pleasure, press play below to enjoy this soundscape I recorded while in the final stages of lunchmaking. It’s just a snippet of what my life sounds like these days.