Gratitude Practice 2021 Day 335: Chutes & Ladders

This week. This week was nothing short of incredible...and I'm not talking about the positive use of the word incredible. The end of the week countdown began somewhere around Tuesday afternoon and between real life, the almost 5000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in our community and all things politics...5:00pm on Friday could not come fast enough.

After picking up our girl from school and grabbing our routine Friday night take out meal, we headed home to begin a much needed weekend of detox, respite and refueling. Exhausted, I swallowed a few bites, grabbed a blanket and zonked out on the couch for an unplanned but very needed end of the week nap. The body and brain shut down and shut down hard and fast. Grateful to have a spouse who saw my very raw need and let me tag out for what ended up becoming a three hour power snooze.

Around 9:30pm, my eyes popped open and I woke up refreshed and feeling almost human. Our endlessly energetic five year old was still eager to engage in our weekly "We Survived Another Week Friday Night Ritual" so I sent my equally done husband upstairs and resumed full-time mommy responsibilities. After watching the changing of the guard, my wide awake girl exclaimed, "Mom, wanna play Chutes and Ladders and have a dance party?" I smiled and replied, "Yes! Sarah Kate, yes, I do!"

With an old school Disney playlist streaming from the kitchen speaker and a half eaten bag of semi-soft semi-stale Red Vines we began what would assuredly be the best part of the week.

"Mom, why is this game called Chutes and Ladders? Mom, what's a Chute? Those are funny words, Mom."

"Mom, why do we have to take turns? I don't really like taking turns. Can't it just always be my turn?"

"Mom, what are the bare necessities, anyway?"

"Mom, I think it's way more fun to zip up the ladders than zoom down the chutes. Can't I just skip the chutes? I really don't like to lose or move backwards, Mom."

"Mom, when it's my turn...Do I get to decide if I move forwards or backwards? How can I know which is the right direction to go?"

"Mom, why is Mary Poppins always singing about sugar and medicine and spoons?"

"Mom, it's your turn...What do you want to do? Mom….Mom...Mom, you have to choose... forward or backwards?..Up the ladders or down the chutes. Mom, it's your turn. Mom…..?"

"Mom, can I have more Red Vines? I really love licorice...don't you, Mom?"

Grateful to end what was a hellish week with the wisdom and endless cheerfulness of my inquisitive Sarah Kate. Buzzing on a mouthful of sugary Red Vines, she popped out these powerful questions in rapid fire in about thirty minutes. This girl is full of questions which are often the exact combination of words my heart and soul need to hear and process.

Grateful and becoming far more aware and dedicated to helping her (and me) learn that taking turns is...has...and must be...the way we engage. Because we all must take turns... when playing board games, in relationships, while working on teams...and especially when serving in leadership positions and while interacting with people. WE ALL MUST LEARN HOW TO TAKE TURNS...peacefully…both when it's easy and especially when it's not. Grateful for this perspective and for the endless opportunities to practice.

Grateful that Milton & Bradly and all of the other game makers continue to produce silly games that are specifically designed to create low stakes totally meaningless and completely inconsequential conflicts and opportunities to learn these critical life skills. Curious about how the events of this week may have been different and if the supposed grown-ups leading our country had played more Chutes and Ladders during the critical formative years. Grateful to remember that how we deal with sliding down the chutes is often just as much and often more important than how we engage in climbing the top.

Grateful for the life long thought provoking ear worms that come from the wonderful world of Disney. So much power and goodness carefully placed inside those cheesy jingles.

Grateful for my ever observant, endlessly curious, always eloquent kid who teaches, reminds, inspires and leads us without even realizing it.

Grateful that all long, hard, taxing weeks eventually end even as the heartbreaking blood boiling but sadly not at all that shocking issues we are facing as a community and a country never will. Weekends are gifts from above... because laundry and shopping and a few zoom free days is essential for survival.

And grateful for Red Vines... because they truly are the superior licorice in all the land.