Back in the habit

I started something, a while ago.

I’d come to our friendly neighborhood indie coffee shop once a week - sit here with my laptop and write. I worked through some stuff, and I was able to put my thoughts about Ben and his ADHD into order here on the page, and ultimately on the blog.

It worked, for a long time.

Sit.

Think.

Coffee.

Write.

But then the coffee shop closed down for a while to renovate. I didn’t want to write someplace else, and I am loyal. I loved the cozy atmosphere here. It was usualy quiet, and I could spill my words out and find a quiet place inside. I tried writing at home, but it didn’t work for me.

After months and months, I am back. I’ll have to get used to the space again. It’s different. The cafe expanded, so it sounds different, it feels different.

But I have something else on my side. During the winter, while I wasn’t writing, I was walking. Miles and miles, actually, with two friends. Two women who share this same journey with me. Stay-home moms of older kids. (Our daughters are all the same age, turning nine this year.) Facing the same struggles and questions about ourselves and our place in the world. Figuring out our older kids.

All winter, we’ve been helping each other answer a lot of the same questions that I have been writing about. We’ve held each other up, found solutions and found some peace in this phase of the journey. (I’ve also discovered a capacity for walking five or six miles at a time, developed a serious Michael’s craft store habit and probably could use some new pants. Whoo!)

Today I’m writing, and one of those moms is next to me - finding her voice too. We’ve decided to meet here at the cafe, once a week, and work on our craft.

Of course, it’s not without a hiccup or two. I started writing today about bullying and whatever I wrote is lost to the ether...it didn’t save. I’ve also lost the piece I started about a week ago, about the general bitchiness I feel whenever anyone talks about the Mommy Wars.

But it’s OK, in the end, I’ll be back here again. And again.