re-strict (ri strikt') vt. [see RESTRAIN] to keep within limits; confine --re-strict'ed adj. --re-stric'tion n. This definition came from Webster's New World Dictionary--the 1990 paperback edition. This is the same dictionary that saw me through college. It helped me make sense of words that were thrust upon me. I am afraid to look up the word 'restrict' today. Will its meaning be altered? Will it be exactly the same? The reason I am wondering is this: just the other morning at work I overhead someone asking another about the current water restrictions. They were wondering if they would be able to wash their car at home. When I was a kid the only times I heard the word 'restrict' had to do with my friends and the fact that, after breaking a rule, they were "put on restriction," and when there was a movie I wanted to see but couldn't because it was "Rated R for Restricted."
Nowadays I find myself using the "R word" to define my clothes (especially around the waist) and how I'm currently feeling: RESTRICTED. As a young adult it was my assumption that as I grew older I would be and feel less restricted. As an adult I am finding that is not necessarily so. For example, I often feel restricted when it comes to wanting to do certain things such as sleep, relax, or be spontaneous. Maybe it all boils down to responsibility. Did I really give up certain freedoms so that I could fulfill my longing to be married with children? It's like I jumped from PG to G totally skipping the R part of life. I don't want it to all be 'about me' but I would like to know that there is at least a part of me that isn't on restriction.
As my kids have grown older I have found myself retreating from them and paying more attention to me. Hopefully that is a somewhat 'normal' progression. I hovered and fed and cleaned and taught while they were tiny and helpless and so dependent upon me. Like the mama bird who tirelessly flutters back and forth-dusk till dawn providing for her babies--until one day she sits on the fence for a breather only to view from a distance her babies look bigger and are trying something on their own. And so she stays back -a little farther away this time (but still close enough to rush in if need be)-and notices that life is happening before her eyes...only now she can see it because she's not entrenched it in. Her labors have paid off and she actually has time to rest, relax, and be spontaneous. Her restrictions lifted she is able to fly again.
Nowadays I find myself using the "R word" to define my clothes (especially around the waist) and how I'm currently feeling: RESTRICTED. As a young adult it was my assumption that as I grew older I would be and feel less restricted. As an adult I am finding that is not necessarily so. For example, I often feel restricted when it comes to wanting to do certain things such as sleep, relax, or be spontaneous. Maybe it all boils down to responsibility. Did I really give up certain freedoms so that I could fulfill my longing to be married with children? It's like I jumped from PG to G totally skipping the R part of life. I don't want it to all be 'about me' but I would like to know that there is at least a part of me that isn't on restriction.
As my kids have grown older I have found myself retreating from them and paying more attention to me. Hopefully that is a somewhat 'normal' progression. I hovered and fed and cleaned and taught while they were tiny and helpless and so dependent upon me. Like the mama bird who tirelessly flutters back and forth-dusk till dawn providing for her babies--until one day she sits on the fence for a breather only to view from a distance her babies look bigger and are trying something on their own. And so she stays back -a little farther away this time (but still close enough to rush in if need be)-and notices that life is happening before her eyes...only now she can see it because she's not entrenched it in. Her labors have paid off and she actually has time to rest, relax, and be spontaneous. Her restrictions lifted she is able to fly again.
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