Av Goal: One Step at a Time   

Tammuz in Review

It’s ironic how not having a goal can itself be a goal, and how much you can accomplish while trying not to do anything at all.

Take putting my daughter to bed, for instance. Like in most homes, bedtime is often a struggle. And I think a huge part of it is the pressure I put on her — and myself! — that she has to be settled by a certain time.

So lately I’ve been spending just ten soothing minutes with my daughter in her room, with no expectation that she needs to fall asleep. I wasn’t trying to clean up the room while she got drowsy; I wasn’t trying to review her day with her; I wasn’t trying to get out of there as quickly as possible so I could move on to the next task on my night’s to-do list.

I knew something had changed the very first night we did this when, after the ten minutes were over and I started to leave, she said, “Mommy, You can go now. I feel tired enough to just fall asleep.”