Langreck: Enjoying life in the slow lane

My parents have told me my entire life that I have to be able to “roll with the punches” that life throws my way, whether I like them or not.

To say I do not like change would be an understatement. A more accurate statement would be that I absolutely despise change and try to do whatever it takes to make sure everything goes according to plan.

Over the past two months, as strict regulations and restrictions were put into place to help slow the spread of COVID-19, I have come to learn and even accept that sometimes change is inevitable.

I’m not going to lie and say I have been thrilled and love all the changes, including becoming a preschool, second- and fourth-grade teacher, as well as figuring out activities to keep the kids busy during quarantine so they didn’t go stir crazy from being stuck in the house for weeks at a time.

However, I would not be telling the whole truth if I did not say that I also have had some amazing experiences during this time, which would not have been possible if change had not occurred.

One of those experiences occurred just the other day while I was putting dinner on the table. I was just about to tell the kids dinner was ready, when I saw them looking out the patio door and talking in excited voices about something in the backyard.

As I was headed over to see what all the commotion was about, my son, Graham, turned around with a huge smile on his face and told me to hurry up and come look before they disappear.

By this point I still had no idea what my kids were looking at, but I figured if it was holding their attention for this long, it was not just a squirrel.

As I approached the door, my son was pointing to something off in the distance, and as I squatted next to my daughters to get a better look, I caught my breath.

There was a pair of young foxes rolling around and playing with each other. In a matter of mere seconds, my excitement quickly matched that of the kids, and at a second glance, I realized there was a third young fox.

My kids and I probably stood there watching for a good 10 minutes, watching the animals enjoy the cool evening breeze.

As we finally pulled ourselves away from watching the foxes, it dawned on me that a few months ago I would have missed this opportunity to watch the foxes with the kids because I would be busy following my strict schedule and getting stuff marked off my checklist.

However, I am learning to embrace change, even if dinner has to sit on the table for 10 minutes and gets a little cold, so my children and I can enjoy watching some mischievous foxes having fun.