Life Swap

Last week I did something that I’ve always wanted to do – swap lives with my husband. Not forever, but just for a moment in time. Not quite Freaky Friday, but for a day and in my own body. I have been afforded the luxury, although rarely does it feel luxurious, to stay home with my children from the time they were born until very recently. Earlier this year I decided that it was finally time for me to get back to the business of deliberately creating, and fulfilling that self expressive part of me, and go back to work. So I set the intention and let my soul do the walking towards the light of my desires. A work in process, I assure you, but it feels good.

It has been a fun and exciting year for me and things have definitely shifted during this time. However, the day finally came for me to move out of my everyday secure working environment and go to work with an actual call time. Not the comfortable Hollymom office that is ongoing and never closes. Now here is where the conflict comes in. I had committed to being at school at the exact same time, to serve the kids on campus their Thanksgiving feast, yes volunteering is a job too. What to do? Well, my husband was not at work or out of town, bonus!  “This could be fun,” I thought.  How opportune to have him go to school and see how it all worked up there on campus. With all the other mom’s there as well, this would be a great opportunity to gain some much needed appreciation for all us moms, I thought. So I gave my husband his school assignment the night before, which he naively agreed to, and set my alarm for an early morning call. When I got up it took all my willpower not to get the kids up, dressed, fed, put the mac and cheese in the oven, (for the school feast) and micromanage every little part of the morning. But NO, today I would walk in my husband’s shoes. I was the breadwinner and I could not be bothered with such mundane tasks as carpool and peanut butter toast. I showered, got dressed, grabbed my coffee, and got in the car before anyone knew I was gone so there could be no “MOM where’ s my..” etc.

As I drove away it felt so good to be in a determined frame of mind and think only about how I was going to seize the day and what was immediately in front of me. Of course, right before I went on set to film my segment I did get the panicked call “how am I supposed to transport the mac and cheese and keep it warm, do I need a warming dish and what and where exactly was quad 5 on campus?” I simply replied “You got this babe, you’ll be great. Have a wonderful day.” As I hung up the phone and got in the zone the producer said with a wink “lights, camera,action” and I couldn’t help but think, “I could get used to this Life swap everyday.”