Marriage Moats- In a Hurry
Published: Tue, 04/30/19
| Marriage Moats | Caring for Marriage |
 It is easy to go fast. The world wants you to. Sometimes I get the impression that speed is more important than destination.
I am as guilty of this as anyone. I will catch myself swallowing my food without tasting it, even though it is actually something I like and took the effort to prepare.
We used to live near Disneyland and would take the kids. Like most amusement parks you spend more time waiting in line than you do on the actual ride. At one point I noticed this and began to try to enjoy the time in line too. We played little word games or finger contests, or told riddles. I told stories about the little boy who liked to invent things.
I will tell you one.
Once there was a little boy who liked to invent things. One day the little boy's mom asked if he would invent a way to find the kids' shoes, which were always getting lost just when they wanted to go out the door. So he got some markers and drew shoes on everyone's bare feet. It worked at first. They went to the store and the store people, the ones who insist on shoes, looked down and thought, "Yup they have shoes
on." But then in the afternoon the pavement got hot. Drawn feet do not protect you from burning pavement. Ouch ouch, they hopped back to the car and drove home. So the mom asked him to try another invention. Next he got paper and scissors and tape and made shoes out of paper. Every time they needed shoes they could quickly make some and head out the door. It too worked at first. They went to the zoo and the zoo people, the ones who insist on shoes, looked down and thought, "Yup they
have shoes on." But then in the afternoon it started to rain. You know what paper does in the rain. Pretty soon their shoes were all soggy and fell off. So the mom asked him to try one more time. The little boy went to his tool kit and found lots of magnets. He glued magnets to the toes of every shoe in the house. Then when they wanted to go somewhere he got out his powerful magnet and all the shoes from all over the house came flying from under beds and behind chairs and stuck to the big
magnet. They just had to pick off the ones they wanted and put them on. The end.
I invite you to tell stories. It can be you and your spouse telling your kids stories about when they were little. It can be telling each other stories about your childhood. It can be made up stories just for fun. It can be stories you tell as a group, passing the plot mid sentence for the next person to continue. Stories are free, low calorie, always available and carry no carbon footprint.
Just remember, there is no need to hurry.
Love, Lori Photo by Andy Sullivan
www.caringformarriage.org
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