Craig has been away for work all week long and last night he arrived home, safe, sound and so deliriously tired he couldn't stop hugging me. Luckily he doesn't have to go away too often but when he has to I'm noticing this time alone on the farm with two kids seems like it takes less sweat. Mabye because the munchkins are getting a bit older? Or Mama's getting hardier (strong like ox style)?
Before Craig's coming home, I was determined to do something terribly not in my Mama nature. Something fun. Like Dada-style fun. Sure, I win the fun crown in events like puppet shows and family break dance circles but in terms of sporty flavoured pursuits he wins, hands down, each time. So I bit the bullet and told the kids "we're going skiing together" and after the immediate chorus of "yay's" I discovered another tool for any lazy mama emergencies - say it out loud then there's no going back.
Edie is a spectacular cross country skier these days. She not only keeps up but surpasses me. Sometimes so far I have to holler for her to wait up at times (mind you I had the impediment of Kale's sled strapped to my belly. With all them hand knit layers he's one heavy little lug). While skiing I was thinking about this pace we were taking; me slowed down by Kale's layers, stopping to take pictures, Kale hucking himself off the sled to point at rocks (look at that rock, with snow on it. No, that one!) and pondering how at this age this is the way to go. This is the cadence they need to wholly digest the world around them.
Right before this little adventure I finished wrapping up the preparation for my Saturday morning simplicity parenting session number six - Filtering Out. It was fresh in my brains the concept of how at this tender age to not only be mindful of the impression that media leaves but how easily all the stimuli around accumulates and how careful we need to be to ensure that our kids remain comfortable in their environment to really relax into their authentic, quirky selves.
One of the suggestions in this chapter that I was particularly taking into consideration on this outing was "the more you say, the less you are listening". I tried to not say too much and instead just kept it to what was "true, kind, necessary".
"Please don't fall into the river" was the phrase that seemed to be the only optly necessary a few times as snowball hucking became the fun time activity of choice. Other than that, noone said more than a few words this whole escapade. It was magic. Golden Moment even.
And, speaking of Fun Mum, here are the next two pit stops for the Bliss Filled Mama Blog tour you can visit and enter to win a copy of my fresh off the paperless presses: Homespun Waldorf and Sistermama Gets Real . Thank you to Sarah for hosting both of these stops today. I am at a loss for words.
And that ends our official week of blog tour but there are still a few interested mamas that are excited to share the gospel of Mama bliss with their readers. I will be sharing these upcoming posts and any further giveaways in the weeks to come. Have a great, blissful weekend!