Just Swing

It's not easy for me to relax.

I'm not a relaxer.

It's part of being a mom. There are always a million things going on and you feel you're on this endless treadmill. And life can become overwhelming. But, I must admit, I recently found a way to escape, if only for a few minutes, from the hustle and bustle of my daily life.

I came across it unexpectedly on the playground at the kids' school. I've always passed by them and never thought twice to try them out...

The ever-so-lovely, swings.

Like I said, I didn't plan this. But one morning, Sofia asked me to come to the playground area before school started. She wanted me to push her on the swings. So I made my way to the sandy play area and started to push her. And the higher she went, the louder she squealed with delight. I sat on the swing next to her to take a breather.

I started to sway back and forth..back and forth...back and forth. Hey, this was pretty cool. I then grabbed each chain to hold on to and started to pump my legs back and forth. I had a pretty good rhythm going and I started to go higher and higher. I probably looked pretty silly as I swung in my Christian Louboutin heels, but I didn't care.

As I rose higher with every swing, I was magically transported back into my childhood. I felt like I was in Kindergarten again with my dad pushing me higher and higher until I felt like I could touch the clouds. I felt the wind blow my hair back while the morning sun warmed my cheeks. I looked down at my feet and I no longer saw my heels, they were transformed into my red, Keds sneakers that I used to wear on my little 5 year-old -feet. I was free without a care in the world. I was a kid again.

Tears started forming as I basked in the glory of it all. I didn't want this ride to end. I wanted to jump off this magical time machine and remain 5 years old...

But the bell rang. My swing quickly slowed down and my heels reappeared. It was time to go back to real life, grown-up stuff. I hugged my kids before they ran off to their classrooms- each of them carrying a piece of my heart with them.

I walked away from the swing and then had to take a look back.

"Thanks," I said, "for letting me be a kid again...."

I pull my car keys out of my pocket and walk out the gate into my reality.