Finding Beauty in The Mundane
I used to think that most of life is mundane. Drive kids to school, go to work, stop at the grocery store, menu plan, cook, clean, baseball/basketball/soccer games, doctors appointments, pick kids up, bath time, bedtime, laundry, planning stuff to do on the weekends, getting a run in, etc…. I believed that since there was so much mundane-ness in life, it was my job to make it exciting, create romance, make memories. That living in the mundane was boring.
Most of life is mundane, but now I understand that that’s the beauty of it. Not trying to create the memories and carve out the time, but to live in the mundane. For example, some of my best memories with the kids during this past school year was the hour of driving I did every morning. It wasn’t something I looked forward to five days a week but instead of trudging through it, I realized how fun it was. Dancing and singing to music, having great conversations with my kids, being silly, watching the sunrise, just being together. Our family vacation was intentional, carved out period of time and I loved it, but the day to day mundane driving was awesome too. If I had the mindset that it was something I had to do and just get through, I would have missed out.
Grocery shopping isn’t a particularly fun activity for me. Having a budget with 12 people — some nearly adults — is challenging. On my to-do list, it’s something necessary and takes time. Dane and I changed it so that we menu plan, go together alone every weekend and now it’s something I look forward to. The time we take together that morning, the planning and the streamlining of the week took something very mundane — even dreaded — and made it a pleasure.
With Dane working 60+ hours a week and me working up to 50 and time with our kids (and exercise in there somewhere?), having a moment alone with no responsibilities is vital and we carve out date night. Most of the week, however, our life is pretty mundane. Laundry, dinner, cleaning, cooking, and especially sleep are a revolving door. We don’t watch much TV, but we seem to always have a show we watch together. This mundane act is something I look forward to.
Dinner is a big deal at our home. I always felt like my kids deserved my undivided attention for 30–60 minutes. Now that they’re older, I think I deserve their undivided attention. Dinner is for everyone, no devices are allowed and if you’re not hungry you can sit and visit with the family. Yes, dinner is mundane — it’s also awesome. Cooking, cleaning, yard work, shopping, work, kids, are all “mundane” activities that don’t have to feel boring, void of memories, a bummer, something to trudge through. My mundane moments are some of my favorites!! Try to find the beauty in the mundane.
Originally published at https://www.momof18.com.
Jenn is Mom of 18, Transformational Coach for Christian women, host of At A Crossroads with The Naked Podcaster, Author, Runner, Minimalist, & Healthy Lifestyle Advocate
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