An Ordinary Day to Cherish

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It’s mid-summer and it was an ordinary day at our house. An ordinary day to cherish with family.

We were all home. We were all taking our time to do what we wanted and needed to do. We weren’t in a rush. There was no school to get to. There was no homework or rushing off to a sports game or practice. We were just existing; we were just living. No one was sick. We had no catastrophes slapping us in the face. We were just a family enjoying our home together for the day. We were present with our kids. It felt like a gift.

Simple Joys

And you know what, simple joys happened. One unexpectedly unfolded right before my eyes.

My youngest is 7 years-old and he’s never cared much about riding his bike. He has always loved his scooter and his big wheel and rarely rode his bike with training wheels; he just chose other things to ride. He was talking with my middle son and they decided to work together on him learning to ride his bike without training wheels.

My middle son led his younger brother to the back yard to the slight hill so he could practice riding over soft grass. I watched from the kitchen window above as he stationed his little brother at the top of that slight hill and motioned him to ride down. The little hill gave him some momentum to go. The grass took away his fear of falling and he rode his bike for the first time without training wheels.

My middle son ran into the house and told me about it with excitement shining from his smile. I set up the video camera so I could capture some of his first riding without the training wheels.

The look of joy on his face was beautiful. He had done it.

We were all smiles as he shifted to the front yard and could now easily ride up and down the street. I will never forget how they collaborated on this accomplishment. One we would have missed out on if we hadn’t been at home.

Most kids I know are off training wheels before the age of seven. I am more relaxed with my third therefore he has more freedom to reach milestones on his own schedule. I’m OK with that, in fact it’s liberating. I feel no pressure to rush him, perhaps because he is the youngest and I see how fast time is running. I feel like I am constantly chasing it to keep up.

 

We have a pool so we savored an afternoon family swim time and simply played with our kids. We lounged with them in the pool with the sunshine glistening off their wet freckled cheeks. The sunlight lighting up their wet goggles. Making new hairdos by flipping their heads back from the water making mohawks and crooked hair waves. My husband and oldest son played volleyball collaborating in fun.

I picked garden beans and we ate dinner. Simple, nothing extraordinary, but the day was oh so memorable.

Live in the Moment

Some days I feel so busy in this stage of our lives that we aren’t able to live in the moment and dwell in the little accomplishments and successes of our kids. The little joys we saw daily when they were babies and toddlers get glossed over now by our busy days. I don’t want to gloss over any success, no matter how small it might be. I want to cherish them all.

We were able to live in the moment. The day was a gift to cherish and remember. A memory to keep as I watch my children grow older. I’ve loved each age they have passed through but I always miss parts of their previous ages. I frequently count in my head how many years each of my kids have left before they go off to college. I do this to remind myself they won’t always live here with us. That makes me sad but I wouldn’t change it because they are happy and healthy and growing.

It was a lucky day for me to slow down and revel in the joy of an ordinary day.

Time is shrinking and I can’t keep up with my own life. I need to slow down. I need to cherish an ordinary day more often.

You might also enjoy https://www.juliehoagwriter.com/2016/06/24/im-choosing-mom-play-dates-boys-clean-house/

 

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