Out at a masked event, March 31, 2021.
I looked at our calendar as I sat on the phone with our dental office. Appointments needed to be rescheduled, but when? Our calendar is filling up fast. We're already into mid-June for completely free weekends. The minis and I spoke about what they'd like to do for their birthday party this year. An actual party. With people and not just cars driving by.
We spent the last year talking about "when life resumes as normal." It seems to have taken forever and happen overnight all at once. I scheduled swimming lessons without a worry. I made vacation plans (socially distanced vacation plans). Normal IS happening.
As suspected, normal doesn't mean the before normal. It's a new normal. It's one I'm okay with. It's one where we are cautious, a little bit freer than we were, and much more grateful for those little things. Of course, it also means I have to fight for a balance. That balance came easily in 2020 because there was nothing to do.
We didn't gather with family or friends. We didn't make plans. We had nothing on our schedule. We didn't have to work someone or something into our lives. Those people or things were a Zoom call away. It was nice and heartbreaking at the same time. We had time and we thrived. As normal comes, I'm back to fighting time. Back to the nights of fitting in dinner before I'm off to a meeting, scheduling a grocery pick up as we run kids around, barely giving us time to breathe. This was our normal, but I'm not convinced this should be our new normal.
While I internally debate changes I want to make in life, I'm relieved a more normal summer is upon us. After a year of a blank calendar staring back at me, the various colors filling each day is refreshing. Normal IS happening now.