Staring Down the Cold Vegetables

I was never too fond of vegetables as a kid; so having parents who believed in the clean plate club meant there were more than a few nights that I had to sit at the table staring at broccoli that needed to be finished.  I'm sure it made sense at the time but in hindsight I can't be sure who would think that a kid who didn't like broccoli was going to want to eat it after it had sat on the plate for 40 minutes.  Besides eating it never seemed to be the point. There were many times that I shoved cold, mushy vegetables in my mouth long enough to get the okay to be excused from the table only to run out the front door and spit them out into the bushes.

I was thinking about those vegetables tonight as I metaphorically processed my day.  You see, I'm feeling like my plate is full of vegetables this week.  My teaching and the things related to my class take up a large part of the plate.  There are papers to grade, new lessons to plan and tomorrow's visitors to worry about.  Then comes the work stuff: paperwork for  special ed. meetings, emails to remind teammates about upcoming events, and after school meetings that I perceive as useless and unproductive.  There's the exercise I'd like to do and the decorations from Christmas that still haven't been stored in the attic. The plate is full and to tell you the truth I'm just not that hungry.

It's been a long time since I've had to sit at the dinner table staring down my vegetables.  Driving home I realized it would have been better to eat that disgusting broccoli when it was hot.  So tonight, even though I didn't much feel like it, I put the boxes in the attic and went out for a two-mile walk.  Tomorrow I'll try to get an early start on the day and make the best use of my time.  Hopefully I'll feel a sense of progress, but really I wouldn't mind a smaller plate.