Ordinary (Blissful) Morning
I have nothing special to write about this morning, but today was a snapshot of what I hope most of our days look like around here. Sometimes it doesn't feel like it. The kids woke up happy and talkative (that part is not out of the ordinary...). They played around the house, building castles and playing with "small toys" while Cora napped. After she woke up, we went for a walk to explore the campus. We found a groundskeeper down the steep hill by the library trimming the ivy. There's a hedge all the way around the hill, and the boys have daydreamed about finding a way down there. As we watched, we speculated about the secret entrance to the hill he must have used and how he would ever pull himself back out of the space.
Next, we watched the construction workers. There's usually a construction project somewhere on campus, so it gives us endless sources of entertainment. Today we watched the foreman lay out the plans and then point around the site to give direction to the work. We watched two men weave re-bar around the corner of a new building, hanging by their safety harnesses. We scouted the entire campus looking for puddles to splash in. None of them exceeded half an inch in depth, but the boys were thrilled. After a while, Thomas climbed into the basket of the single stroller for a ride. A while later, Henry climbed on to the top, behind Cora. As I pushed our poor, overloaded single stroller around with all three kids stacked in it, we joked with friends we met that it was a "split level" stroller.
When we got home the boys took the bed rail off of Henry's bed and pretended it was a train. They loaded it up with all of their stuffed animals and blankets, and had me make a sign to warn people that their "sleeper train" was close by. I left the room to fold some laundry and came back a few minutes later to find all three of them piled on their little train, laughing and playing.
It was a morning full of simple, ordinary little moments that remind me of the things I used to dream about before I had kids. The challenges of parenting have exceeded what I imagined, but so has the bliss. I wouldn't trade the ordinary (or the extraordinary) moments for anything!
Next, we watched the construction workers. There's usually a construction project somewhere on campus, so it gives us endless sources of entertainment. Today we watched the foreman lay out the plans and then point around the site to give direction to the work. We watched two men weave re-bar around the corner of a new building, hanging by their safety harnesses. We scouted the entire campus looking for puddles to splash in. None of them exceeded half an inch in depth, but the boys were thrilled. After a while, Thomas climbed into the basket of the single stroller for a ride. A while later, Henry climbed on to the top, behind Cora. As I pushed our poor, overloaded single stroller around with all three kids stacked in it, we joked with friends we met that it was a "split level" stroller.
When we got home the boys took the bed rail off of Henry's bed and pretended it was a train. They loaded it up with all of their stuffed animals and blankets, and had me make a sign to warn people that their "sleeper train" was close by. I left the room to fold some laundry and came back a few minutes later to find all three of them piled on their little train, laughing and playing.
It was a morning full of simple, ordinary little moments that remind me of the things I used to dream about before I had kids. The challenges of parenting have exceeded what I imagined, but so has the bliss. I wouldn't trade the ordinary (or the extraordinary) moments for anything!
