1/22/14

The weather has been so glorious the past few days, it sometimes doesn't even register that other places in the country are so bitterly cold. After 4 winters in Ohio, I have never taken a blue sky for granted and the big blue Texas sky has yet to disappoint.

Some days when I stop to think about it, I almost pinch myself. The location of our home is just perfect. How many kids can say their dad took them to school every day, and even had lunch with them at school a few times a month? Or that they could pop in to their Dad's office after school and play a round of foosball in the lobby? You can jump on your bike and ride up and down your dead end street, or walk to three different parks in the neighborhood? One of my favorite things in our neighborhood is the creek that runs through it. A few afternoons a week, we walk down the street and one block over to a paved path that leads to the creek. I park the stroller and sit on some bricks and watch my boys roam free on their own little adventures. They often separate and meander at their own speed, collecting rocks and sticks and throwing them in the water. It's just so wonderful to witness-boys in their element.

Little boys, they just need to wander. They need space, and time to wander. They need to touch and feel and breathe and hear. With no one pushing them along, they need time to explore nature, and just be little boys. Most days are just so crazy, and most days Will doesn't come home from school very calm (like, at all). But I feed them a snack and then we go to that stream and, man, they are so calm. It's just that quiet freedom and the fresh air that soothes them. They traverse the area for an hour or so and then we head home to get on with the rest of day, but they always wish we could stay longer. I know I don't do many things right, but when I think of our afternoons at the creek, I feel as though I'm giving them a childhood. A true and honest, old fashioned childhood. And for whatever reason, that fills me up inside so much I could burst.