home

Feeling thankful today for my home. It is nothing fancy of course, and a decorator I am not. Right now I desperately need to actually put away the clothes that have been folded and too many other chores to list and its no fun to think about all of them anyway.

But what makes me thankful is that my kids are comfortable here. The can relax here. And do kids need to relax? Absolutely.  My house has plenty of natural light during the day, so that overhead lighting is rarely needed. Today the windows are open and cool breezes are blowing. Through those open windows there is  enough natural light so that books can be read, train tracks can be built, babydolls  can be lined up for school and lunch, legos can be transformed into castles and cowboys can wrangle up their herds in the light of the back window.
A CD might be playing. Or not. but definitely No tv right now.
Just barefoot children playing with their own sense of schedule and interest. Moving from one activity to another as their imaginations create new games and new adventures. The afternoon hours are their time.  A "stay at home" day Stephen calls them. We eat apples while reading or popcorn while building Batman a new batcave. Popsicles usually also make an appearance at some point. These are days that children need, just as much as adults - if not more. Days where a tummy growling means its time to eat and a little boy laying a head down on the carpet while driving a car means perhaps I will lay here and rest a bit while my sissy reads to me.

Saturdays spent at the park or the zoo or at football games are wonderful things. but I will take a Saturday like this anytime. Perhaps it comes from being a working mom. I don't feel the need to get out of the house when we are here. But even in the summers, my kids and I happily putter around the house for hours, so maybe it is just who we are.

We get very few days of these cool breezes and watching my children enjoy their time is one of the best ways I can think to spend the next few hours today.