Reconstitute

For the past few days, thanks to a minor communicable childhood ailment that no childcare provider wanted in their midst, I had the pleasure of my son's company.  I have not done full-time childcare in a while and after the panic subsided, I began to see this time as an opportunity to reconstitute myself.  I have been rushing headlong into many a day without really noticing things. 

At first I stumbled...only half of me was present (if that).  I almost banged into another car and then another as I came back to myself.  I lurched for a while and then I started to take my son's lead and notice new things.  He insisted on bringing a blanket and  a snack to the playground for a picnic. He raced teeny Winnie the Pooh and Dora figures down the banister time after time.  He earnestly weighed the pros and cons of one pair of new sneakers over another. He jumped down the front steps and in the next breath pointed out the emerging flower buds.  With his tiny leadership, the drip drip of a rhythm percolated down and reconstituted me.

re·con·sti·tute

  [ree-kon-sti-toot, -tyoot]  Show IPAverb, re·con·sti·tut·ed, re·con·sti·tut·ing.

verb (used with object)

1.

to constitute  again; reconstruct; recompose.

2.

to return (a dehydrated or concentrated food) to the liquidstate by adding water: to reconstitute a bouillon cube with hotwater.(source: dictionary.com)