My children are back in school, and so am I. They are learning ancient Greek history, the letter T for tiger, musical arrangements by Derric Johnson, the proper spelling of exercise and hygiene, true form fossils, and Paul and Timotheus the servants of Jesus Christ.
I am learning silence, and breathing in the quiet of my house. Also Creation & Covenant and Group Psychotherapy. We are learning these things, and my house is still.
Roger is not still.
Roger is a Warmie that was given to my eight-year-old daughter when she received her arthritis diagnosis. She loves him inordinately. When she goes to school, she leaves him on the kitchen island with instructions to be good. He is almost good. He tries to be good. But the sparkling bowl of water is right there too, holding Philemon the beta fish. And the pantry is just next to him, and a lot of other things that are fun to play with.
After a few days of mischief, Roger was joined by Stitch, who is the best beloved stuffie of my nine-year-old son. My son did not say anything about Stitch to me. He just left him there, beside Roger, and went to school. This is what we call a relational bid, and it is cause for joy. Roger and Stitch made marshmallows that day over a pretzel fire.
A day or two later, The Bunny showed up on the island. She belongs to my five-year-old daughter, who, as she walked out the door with her backpack, told The Bunny hopefully, “Do something special.”
So The Bunny did.
This morning when everyone had gone, I found three stuffies on my island together, ready for fun. Ready for Mom.
My children are back in school, and my brain is quiet again, and I have energy to play where I do not need to.
September is happy.
Tell me. What small thing brought you joy today?
Well, your post, of course.
But I am also happy about a quiet house; and a first grader who is perhaps too young to be going to school, but is so adorable anyway running out to meet the bus; and that the tomatoes are cooking down aromatically for ketchup; and that my new books should be here this week; and that August won’t come again for eleven months. Because yes, September is happy.
A little girl being a little girl with a small black kitten being a small black kitten.
Your playfulness struck a chord of longing inside me….so I built a campfire last night and roasted marshmallows solo, beneath a rising moon. I took time to be still and reflect and felt calmed by the quiet. And slept so well afterwards! 😌
Shari, this gives me so much hope! The past 3 weeks of college have been an intense learning curve for me and I’ve been afraid that I will never have time to play again. That I will never be at rest enough to play, that my heart may eventually forget how to play and shrivel up like a joyless prune.
Also. I have a blog that nobody knows about and my idea and God’s idea for the blog don’t agree. I feel pressure to write ‘deep and profound theology’ while God says my blog will be ‘a counter balance to my college work, a fun recess of playing around with words’. (You’re gonna tell me he’s right, aren’t you? 😉)
Thank you for inviting me to joy and reminding me that a grown woman at play is as attractive and dignified as an innocent child at play.
I forgot to answer this comment as I meant to… That college load will get lighter, I’m quite sure! Joy and grace and loads of play to you.
Riding bike in the rain.
The abundance of sweet peppers still growing in my garden.
And this post gave me a little thrill of happiness. I can only imagine the delight of your children.
Such pure joy! I smile, and am happier and more playful in my day as well, because you shared this post. Thank you!
I love this so much! The sunrise this morning brought me joy.
Todays happiness…
A creative love you text from hubby
Your post! A super reminder of bygone stuffie escapades and a stirring daring to do it again with the now teens and above!
A tall glass of lemon water and a protein snack between cleaning up the aftermath of 2 days of deep cleaning a storage shed.
Praise music!
Yesterday I was standing at a kettle of the most delicious frying bear meat you’ve ever eaten; dried onions and peppers sent home with us from a SIL in Oregon during one of our last visits were also simmering there; broth from the carcass of a Canada goose was waiting to be added, along with some tiny bow-tie pasta (Farfalline no 95, Certified dried for 9 hours). But I was pondering the absence of more veggies….Nothing was easily presenting itself at that moment… My daughter walked in the door with a few beautiful carrots, along with their tops, a handful of green beans, and some peas from our son’s greenhouse. It really contributed to my joy. That soup was amazing.
Aw, these are the flavors and fragrances of my northern childhood talking to me. Thank you.
I took some children on a ‘living history ‘ exploring traipse in a town over the mountain. On a whim we went inside a museum of art. Inside was beautiful art but also…a concert level grand piano! And my pianist boy was along. And they allowed him to play!! And it was beautiful!!! And he was grinning and I was SO happy for him.
After (re)reading your post this evening and some of the new comments, I was reminded of another bear who once liked to play. My grandmother had a nice teddy bear that she got after she was already a grandmother – possibly as a give-away from some business. That bear regularly sat against the pillows on her bed during the day. But after Grandmama was older and my mother was regularly going to her house and helping her with more things, that bear learned at least one new trick – he liked to stand on his head against the pillows. 🙂
We visited friends today and their 9-months-old said “Mama” for the first time. She repeated it several times, not just babbling but really referring to her Mom. This brought joy today.
Making pumpkin, apple & peanut butter pie & seeing them devoured by hubby and sons! 😊Also free annuals and perennials from a friend my 2 youngest work for! And your post brought a smile to my face! 😊
Having breakfast with my parents and hubby this morning. When your parents live ten hours away, eating granola and yogurt together before they journey home from a weekend with you is such a lovely thing.
And I too was delighted to read your post even if I am a bit late.