Priorities

Gabriel slept in until 8am this morning–which means that I got to sleep in too! It was very nice 🙂

I don’t even remember Michael leaving the apartment for work, even though it means so much to him whenever I get up with him in the morning. (Well, I actually do remember rolling over and putting a pillow over my head when his alarm went off.)

I hopped right to work on my laptop after feeding Gabriel. For once, he played happily in his bouncer. Because I had gotten up late, I decided to postpone my morning prayer and reading until Later Today at Some Point. Instead, when Gabriel went down for his morning nap at 9, I started working again, at which time I realized that I had missed a 9am doctor’s appointment!

After I called the doctor’s office, I decided I needed to get dressed and do something with my hair. I spent about 40 minutes getting getting dressed and then doing odd jobs around the apartment.

When I came back out to work, I suddenly got flustered because I realized that I needed to get as much done as possible before Gabriel woke up. A few minutes after I sat down, however, he woke up from his nap and started fussing. Since he usually fusses for 4-10 minutes and then goes right back to sleep for another 45, I didn’t go get him immediately.

Well, Gabriel didn’t go back to sleep, because I let him sleep in this morning, and his body woke him up for his normal eating time in the middle of his nap. It’s always grating on my nerves to hear my baby crying, but I continued working, hoping he’d go back to sleep. I was just finishing a phone call with an unnecessarily rude and curt client when Gabriel’s fussing reached a fever pitch in the back. As I got off the phone, hurt and irritated, I realized that Gabriel had been fussing for far too long. I threw down my phone and ran into Gabriel’s room.

When I saw his red, teary little face, I couldn’t help but burst into tears. I felt horrible. I hadn’t taken good care of my son this morning. There’s no excuse for that.

I realized all at once that my priorities were out of order today.

For my particular life and vocation right now, this is what my priority list looks like:
God
Michael
Gabriel
Family and friends
Work

If I had kept my priorities in order, I would have gotten up and kept Michael company this morning. I would have kept Gabriel on our normal routine. I would have prayed and done my daily reading as soon as Gabriel went down for his morning nap. I would have spent more time playing with my son and less time fixing my hair. 🙂